Day 259: The New Commandment (2025)

two hundred and fifty nine, we're reading paragraphs nineteen seventy to nineteen seventy four. As always I am using the Ascension Edition of the Catechism, which includes the foundations of faith approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You can also download your own catechism in a year reading plan by visiting Ascension Press.com slash CIY

And lastly, you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates, daily notifications. Today's J 259. We're continuing with the new law or law of the gospel as we read paragraphs 1970 to 1974. We're talking about the golden rule. That's actually one of the things, whatever you wish that men would do to you.

Do so to them. This is the law and the prophets. Also, the entire law of the gospel is contained in the new commandment of Jesus. What is the new commandment of Jesus? This is it. Love one another as he has loved us. Ultimately, the new law. The new law is a law of love.

And in wow, gosh, this is so important for us. Rather than that new law, oh, it's a law of love, piece of cake, no problem. You know, I think St. It was St. Augustine. He said, love God and do what you will. And we're like, yeah, that's great. Piece of as it piece of cake, no problem. Well, wait a second, let's let's hold up here. 1970, here's the quote from John's Gospel, chapter fifteen, verse twelve. Love one another as he has loved us. Okay, how has Christ loved us?

He has loved us by pouring out his very life for us, by saying no to himself and yes to his father, so the Father could be glorified, and so we could have new life. So that is a high, high call. A high call. We're going to talk about that high call. We we actually been talking about it for the last couple of days. The fact that we can't live up to that high call without the grace of the Holy Spirit, without the grace that comes to us because of what Jesus has done for us.

And how does it come to us? Mentioned this yesterday, and it's so important we can never forget this. It comes to us when we make use of the sacrament. That God is given to give us the grace to accomplish His law. And accomplish his will in this life. So that's as we're talking about today. The high call of the law of the gospel. So good. It's a law of love. It's a law of grace.

It is a law of freedom, and it is a law that we're called to. So let us pray and ask the Lord to give us the grace to be able to live out this law of grace, this law of love, and this law of freedom. Father in heaven, we give you praise and glory. We love you. And we also know that we do not love you enough. We don't love you purely. We don't we don't love you as you deserve to be loved, and we don't love you as we're even made to love you.

So give us your Holy Spirit, please. Please give us your Holy Spirit so that we can love you the way you deserve, the way you you made us to be able to love you. Give us your Holy Spirit so that we can follow your law, not just in external actions, but in the depths of our hearts. Lord God, go all the way to the root. Touch the root, transform the root, not just the fruit of our actions, but where they come from. Transform our heart.

You promise to give us new hearts, Lord God. Give us those hearts this day. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It is day two fifty nine we're reading paragraphs nineteen seventy to nineteen seventy four. The law of the gospel requires us to make the decisive choice between the two ways, and to put into practice the words of the Lord.

It is summed up in the Golden Rule Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them. This is the law and the prophets. The entire law of the gospel is contained in the new commandment of Jesus, to love one another as he has loved us.

To the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, it is fitting to add the moral catechesis of the apostolic teachings such as Romans chapter twelve through chapter fifteen, first Corinthians chapter twelve and chapter thirteen, Colossians chapter three and chapter four and

Ephesians chapter four and chapter five, etcetera This doctrine hands on the Lord's teaching with the authority of the apostles, particularly in the presentation of the virtues that flow from faith in Christ and are animated by charity, the principal gift of the Holy Spirit. Saint Paul writes, Let charity be genuine, love one another with brotherly affection. Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality.

This catechesis also teaches us to deal with cases of conscience in the light of our relationship to Christ and to the church. The new law is a law of love, because it makes us act out of the love infused by the Holy Spirit rather than from fear, a law of grace, because it confers the strength of grace to act by means of faith and the sacraments.

A law of freedom is the Because it sets us free from the ritual and juridical observances of the old law, inclines us to act spontaneously by the prompting of charity, and finally, lets us pass from the condition of a servant who does not know what his master is doing to that of a friend of Christ. As Jesus stated, For all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you, or even to the status of son and heir.

Besides its precepts, the new law also includes the evangelical councils. The traditional distinction between God's commandments and the evangelical councils is drawn in relation to charity, the perfection of Christian life. The precepts are intended to remove whatever is incompatible with charity. The aim of the councils is to remove whatever might hinder the development of charity even if it is not contrary to it.

The evangelical councils manifest the living fullness of charity, which is never satisfied with not giving more. They attest its vitality and call forth our spiritual readiness. The perfection of the new law consists essentially in the precepts of love of God and neighbor. The councils point out the more direct ways, the readier means, and are to be practiced in keeping with the vocation of each.

Saint Francis de Sales wrote God does not want each person to keep all the counsels, but only those appropriate to the diversity of persons, times, opportunities, and strengths, as charity requires. For it is charity as queen of all virtues, all commandments, all counsels, and in short, of all laws and all Christian actions, that gives to all of them their rank, order, time, and value. Alright, there it is, paragraphs nineteen seventy to nineteen seventy four.

Let's go back to the very beginning. We talked about love, the law of love, right? The golden rule at first, whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them. That's the law and the prophets, but also the entire law of the gospel contained in the new commandment of Jesus. Love one another as he has loved us. So important. Now

We've got that. And also, gosh, let's let's go to the great commandment, right? The to two great commandments to love God essentially with everything we have and to love our neighbor as ourself. Remember, as I said at the beginning of this episode, the command of love, the law of love is not smaller. It's not it's not easier. It's actually more demanding. Imagine. The Great Commandment Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, strength, right with everything.

That's not loving God in passing. Or that that's not kind of loving God as an afterthought, or loving God as, oh, he's someone who's really important to me. That is loving God as the center of everything we are and everything we have. It the demand of that kind of love is well, it can be overwhelming, which is one of the reasons why we absolutely need the Holy Spirit.

We absolutely need the Holy Spirit. That's why I love paragraph nineteen seventy two. The new law is called the law of love, the law of grace, and the law of freedom. And it it says why, right? It's called the law of love, because it makes us act out of the love infused by the Holy Spirit rather than from fear. It's a law of love. How do we act out of love? It's a law of grace.

Because it confers the strength of grace to act by means of faith and the sacraments. Once again, there we are. Where do we get the grace to act? Where do we get the power of the Holy Spirit? By means of faith and the sacraments. So it's a law called the law of grace because it confers the strength of grace to act by means of faith and the sacraments. And thirdly, it's called a law of freedom. Because it sets us free from the ritual and juridical observances of the old law.

It inclines us to act spontaneously by the prompting of charity, and finally lets us pass from the condition of a servant who does not know what his master is doing, to that of a friend of Christ. And that's the law of freedom. And that's so good. I mean, again, let's go back to why is it a law of freedom? Because we don't have to observe the old law, right? All of the old juridical and ritual observances of the old law. Now we have a fulfillment of that.

in in in the sacraments, where we have a fulfillment of the observances of worship is. We have a fulfillment of, you know, entering into relationship with God through the sacraments. But it is of a completely different nature.

It inclines us to act spontaneously by the prompting of love, and finally enables us to pass from the condition of a servant to that of a friend, even to that of a son and heir, which is so important. Now, let's go back up to paragraph nineteen sixty one for a brief moment.

Nineteen sixty-one highlights that yesterday we talked about the Sermon on the Mount and how the Sermon on the Mount is so bad very important. Hopefully, if you got the chance, you took that chance to reread and re pray through Matthew chapter five, six, and seven. If you didn't Here's your reminder to do that today.

If you did, here's some more, not homework, but just, you know, something else to pray with. Nineteen seventy one says, in addition to the Sermon on the Mount, it's fitting to add the moral catechesis of the apostolic teachings. What does that mean? Well

There are a number of writings of Saint Paul, in this in this case there's four, let his letter to the Romans, First Corinthians, Colossians, and Ephesians. There's others, but these are the ones that are highlighted here in paragraph nineteen seventy one. Apostolic teaching. So he gives us

some moral catechesis and moral teachings in Romans twelve to fifteen, first Corinthians twelve and thirteen, Colossians three and four, Ephesians four and five. Uh it's so good because when you read this, I mean Man, I was I was at a wedding relatively recently where they chose as their wedding reading Colossians chapter three. And and just it was so beautiful because it's like, okay, this couple, they wanted to be proclaimed at their wedding.

This moral catechesis, Saint Paul writing about what what you might call like the ideal Christian life in the world. Starts out by saying, If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. That's that's what we do, right? If you're raised by with Christ, then we seek

What is above where Christ is? Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ and God. When Christ your life appears, then too you will appear with him in glory. Goes on to say, Put to death then the parts of you that are earthly, put to death immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry. Goes on to say.

But now you must put all of them away anger, fury, malice, slander, obscene language out of your mouths. Stop lying to one another. Since you have taken off the old self with its practices and put on the new self, which is being renewed for knowledge in the image of its creator. Goes on, says, I just love this. Again, this is Colossians chapter three. Put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

Bearing with one another and forgiving one another. If one has a grievance against another, as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is the bond of perfection. It goes on. It's just so beautiful. I love my the one that the groom had highlighted. It goes on to say it says, Let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you are called into one body. And then it says one one sentence, three words.

And be thankful. And the and the groom was like, I love that. Like all these this great great advice. We need to do this. This this is the the commandment of the cate moral catechesis of the apost apostles, right? Here the apostle St. Paul to the Colossians.

In the middle of that, all these big things, oh, also, and be thankful. And it goes, it's just so good, so powerful, and such a needed and necessary reminder for all of us. That's what paragraph nineteen seventy one is talking about. Now, lastly.

Paragraphs nineteen seventy three nineteen seventy four talks about the Evangelical Councils. And you were like probably as you're listening thing saying, what would this what? What are the evangelical councils? Because I did not in the intro say, hey guys, here's what the evangelical councils are, so that when you heard them and not mentioned in 1973, but not actually described.

you were maybe confused. So it says besides its precepts, the new law also includes the evangelical councils. What is that? Well, the evangelical councils are, um, you've probably heard them before poverty, Obedience, chastity. So poverty, chastity, obedience, those are the evangelical counsels in the life of Christ. So from the very beginning of of Christianity, those who were following after Jesus would embrace these and some of them would make even even make promises or vows.

to live out a life of poverty, a life of chastity, and a life of obedience. And so that's what they're refer are being referred to. You're like, oh, that's what the evangelical council's councils are. Yes. So probably what would be helpful for you is to go back and reread paragraphs nineteen seventy three and nineteen seventy-four, knowing that, oh, that's what this means. So for example, it goes on to say if I know that the evangelical councils are poverty, chastity, and obedience.

He says the traditional distinction between God's commandments and these counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience is drawn in relation to love, right? In relation to charity, the perfection of Christian life. So the precepts are intended to remove whatever is incompatible with charity. The aim of the counsels is to remove whatever might hinder the development of charity, even if it's not contrary to it.

So poverty, chastity, and obedience, if I'm gonna make a promise or a vow to live out poverty, chastity, and obedience, it's not because wealth is evil. It's not because the sexual act is evil. It's not, it's it's incredible grace in the context of marriage. It's not because we all have to make some kind of promise of obedience to someone in our lives, but it's because people have recognized that hmm, if I want to grow in love

I recognize that sometimes my own will gets in my way, right? If I don't have someone to be obedient to, uh, it might hinder the development of love. I recognize that, yes, while the sexual act is an incredible gift and actually, you know, again in so many ways, the a source of grace in marriage. And at the same time, I might need to temper that, or I may might need even to say no to that function in my life in order to grow in love. Even though again wealth is not evil in and of itself,

I might know myself and say, yes, but I want to grow in love even more, and so I'm going to voluntarily embrace poverty. So it goes on to say paragraph nineteen seventy four. the evangelical councils, right? Poverty, chastity, obedience, they manifest the living fullness of love, of charity, which is never satisfied with not giving more.

Think about that. The the fullness of love is never satisfied with not giving more. And that sense, I get to ask the question of am I ready spiritually to give more? Is my is my heart alive? Is my relationship with the Lord alive in the sense that I'm not giving God my minimum, right? I'm not giving God my leftovers. But I'm wanting to give God my best. And that and that's the the the call that many people who have made those vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience that's that's

That's the call that they're responding to. Like, I want to give God my best. Now, at the same time. Not everyone is called To a life of poverty, chastity, and obedience. In fact, that last quote from in paragraph 1974, it highlights it's a quote from St. Francis de Sales. And he says this. He says, not only um do you might might you not want to make a vow to all these vows or all these councils?

But he still goes on to say he says God does not want each person to keep all the counsels, right? But only those appropriate to the diversity of persons, times, opportunities, and strength as charity requires. So keep this in mind. St. Francis is a sales. Love that guy. He is incredible. In fact, he's kind of a saint for every every person, in the sense that he maybe more than anyone in his day.

made sanctity something that seemed possible for anyone. Sometimes we get into fall into this trap of thinking that, well, you know, holiness, sanctity, being a saint, that that's for nuns, that's for priests, that's for religious brothers and sisters, monks.

But St. St. Francis de Sales reminded us really, really well that actually no, that's for every baptized Christian. Every baptized Christian is called to be a saint. In fact, every person is called to be a saint, but Christians are the ones who have received the grace in order to say yes to this. And so we all called to this.

And that's what God wants for us, but he doesn't want us to all do it in the same way. As he's quoted here, God does not want each person to keep all the counsels, but only those appropriate to the diversity of persons, times, opportunities, and strength. So there, there we go. You are called to be a saint. You might not be called to the evangelical councils, you might not be called to poverty, chastity, and obedience, but.

But here's the thing we are all called to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, which are not the evangelical councils, right? Those are the acts of religion. prayer, fasting, almsgiving that Jesus actually commands all of us to do at some point in our lives. And the church gives us an opportunity to do regularly. So all these things are summed up, of course, in the law of love. To love one another as Christ has loved us.

To love the Lord God with everything we have and our neighbor as ourself, which is again beyond our strength, beyond our ability. And so we once again are reminded that we God, I cannot do this on my own. Please come and help me. And also, I'm praying, God, please come and help all those who are part of this community. Help all of those who are listening to these words right now.

I'm telling you, every day I am praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.