Daily Gospel Reflection

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June 14, 2023

Wednesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
Mt 5:17-19
Listen to the Audio Version

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”

Reflection

Tracy (Van Meter) Rodenborn ’01, M.Div.
ND STEP Staff
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I have often falsely prided myself on following the spirit of the law as opposed to the letter of the law. For example, one Lent I decided to fast from sweets, but to honor the “spirit of the law” I told myself there would be exceptions.

If we were at dinner at someone’s house and they made dessert, wouldn’t it be rude to not eat it? Or St. Patrick’s Day—come on, should that really count as a fasting day during Lent? As one can imagine, my “spirit of the law” exceptions added up so much that my fasting was really not a sacrifice at all.

I spent that Easter Vigil celebrating with a deeply faithful and thoughtful friend who had kept his Lenten fast and invited friends to eat dessert with him after Mass. As I shared in the breaking of his fast that Easter, I realized I wasn’t as enlightened as I had thought.

In our gospel today, Jesus is inviting those hearing to hold together both the the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. We often focus on Jesus as coming to enlighten those who were blindly following the letter of the law to look deeper and raise the bar on what it means to be a person of faith. But it is here that Jesus digs his heel in the ground to say that it is isn’t either the spirit of the law or the letter of the law, but both that will set us free: “I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”

Many times there is a tension here that cannot be easily dismissed. May we each summon the courage and the faith neither to dismiss the law nor forget that to truly follow the law is to do so from the deepest love.

Prayer

​​Rev. Matthew Kuczora, C.S.C.

God, we long to enter the kingdom of heaven. We know that there, every tear will be wiped away and all will be made joy and light. Help us to follow the law and the prophets and your loving example. You promise us that in doing so we will be with you in the kingdom where you live and reign forever and ever.

Saint of the Day

St. Methodios I of Constantinople

St. Methodius or Methodios was one of the early patriarchs of Constantinople. He was born in Syracuse, Sicily, sometime around the year 790 AD. Methodios was the heir to a wealthy family. He was sent to Constantinople, the capital of the empire, to receive a top-notch education and hopefully land a position in the emperor's court.

But Methodios was drawn, not to the splendor of the court of the empire, but to the monastic vocation. He became a monk and eventually was appointed the abbot of his monastery.

During the ninth century, the iconoclast controversies raged throughout the Christian communities in the East. Due to the influence of the quickly spreading Islam, the question of whether or not Christians were allowed to make and venerate icons swiftly became a fiercely debated topic. Iconoclasts insisted that images of God were pagan and should be forbidden. Iconophiles, who were led by many saints, including St. John Damascene, continued to profess the Christian belief that since God became man it was right for Christians to make images to praise him and remember him.

Leo the Armenian, an iconoclast emperor, reigned from 813-820, During his reign, Methodios served as a member of the staff of the Patriarch Nicephoros. Leo removed the orthodox, iconophilic, Patriarch Nicephoros and replaced him with an iconoclast, Theodotus. Methodios fled and returned after Leo the Armenian died.

Michael the Stammerer, who ascended to the imperial throne after Leo, was a more benevolent iconoclast who softened the penalties against the orthodox Christians. Eventually, however, potentially due to political pressure, Michael resumed the fierce persecution of orthodox iconophiles. Methodios was imprisoned. Michael's son, Theophilus, set Methodios free. Methodios continued to preach orthodoxy without troubling Theophilus, until Theophilus was defeated in an important war with his Arab neighbors. Theophilus blamed Methodios, insisting that God was punishing him for allowing an "icon-worshipper" to remain in his court. Methodios was tortured and exiled to the island of Antigonos.

When Theophilus died, the Empress Theodora ruled for her son. The Empress ordered that all who were imprisoned for icon veneration be set free. She appointed Methodios the patriarch of Constantinople. In 842, a local synod in Constantinople restored icon veneration and instituted a yearly celebration of "the Triumph of Orthodoxy" each year.

Methodios died on June 14, in the year 846 or 847. His feast day continues to be celebrated on June 14 by both the Eastern and Western Churches.

St. Methodios I of Constantinople, ecumenical patriarch who defended true Christian teaching—pray for us!

Image Credit: the icon of Methodios appears courtesy of Catholic.org.