Wednesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
Praying is freedom
“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. Mt 5,17-19
A few months ago, after meditating this passage from the Gospel, we asserted that the fulfillment brought by Jesus to the Jewish law and the revelation of the prophets, that is, to all the Old Testament, was freedom. When I was working as a project manager in past times, the chairman told me: “Castaldi, this project must be carried out: the available budget is that much, do a good job”. From that moment on, I was free to give the project my mark and do what I wanted, but the project to be carried out was the one I was assigned with, and not another one. I would not have been allowed to spend the money in the budget differently. The freedom that Jesus Christ has brought to us is the same I had as a project manager: the one who one day lit the spark of life in each of us, putting us into this world, gave us talents to trade and a project to carry out. If we fulfill it, we participate in God’s creative act and the universal plan of salvation harmoniously; thus we can reach our happiness as a good professional who performs well his job. Otherwise, we only make a big mess, disturbing the plan of God and living our life as alienated, as people who have not understood the reason for their existence. The final result is only misery. Those who take part into the great symphony of God’s plan are free, happy, men, well established, who has no problems, neither that of daily bread, for the laborer deserves his hire. Providence becomes for him a natural fact, like sunrise and sunset. However, carrying out God’s plan does not mean to take the right path once and for all, but to obey his will every moment, in every choice, in every decision. This is possible only if we live in a climate of prayer, as Jesus lived to carry out completely the Father’s will. He has not only brought freedom, but he also teaches us to live it through prayer. Like a river that flows in his bed, if we remain in communion with the Lord, we are truly free: in our thoughts, feelings, words, actions.