From the verse before the Gospel: “Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; You have the words of everlasting life.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 5:17-19)
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.”
“Until heaven and earth pass away,” Jesus goes on to say, “not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.” The law Jesus speaks of refers to his present day and to the time of the new heaven a new earth after his resurrection. In fulfilling the law and the prophets, Jesus brings to completion what is already present during his life and fulfilled through his death and resurrection—perfect obedience to the will of the Father. Therefore, Jesus teaches, “whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”
God, help me understand that Jesus Christ your Son is the capstone. Through his life, death, and resurrection, he fulfilled the law and the prophets—all of salvation history—as the Messiah, the incarnate Word. With Christ comes a new heaven and a new earth, salvation for all and the hope of the resurrection. Lord, just as Moses spoke to the Israelites about your statues and decrees, urging them to observe your commandments, help me keep these words in mind today, which find their fulfilment in Christ: “However, take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.”
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.