If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments

19 AUGUST (Mt 19,16-22)

When the Book of Sirach speaks of Moses, presents the commandments as the law of life and intelligence. Intelligence is for life. The commandments are the true intelligence of every man. He lives who lets himself be governed by the commandments.

From him was to spring the man who won the favor of all: Dear to God and men, MOSES, whose memory is held in benediction. God’s honor devolved upon him, and the Lord strengthened him with fearful powers; God wrought swift miracles at his words and sustained him in the king’s presence. He gave him the commandments for his people, and revealed to him his glory. For his trustworthiness and meekness God selected him from all mankind; He permitted him to hear his voice, and led him into the cloud, Where, face to face, he gave him the commandments, the law of life and understanding, That he might teach his precepts to Jacob, his judgments and decrees to Israel (Sir 45,1-5).

Deuteronomy praises of the Commandments. They are the true law of life. No one might ever live outside of them. They are the breath of life for every man.

“These then are the commandments, the statutes and decrees which the Lord, your God, has ordered that you be taught to observe in the land into which you are crossing for conquest, so that you and your son and your grandson may fear the Lord, your God, and keep, throughout the days of your lives, all his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you, and thus have long life. Hear then, Israel, and be careful to observe them, that you may grow and prosper the more, in keeping with the promise of the Lord, the God of your fathers, to give you a land flowing with milk and honey. “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest. Bind them at your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.

But keep the commandments of the Lord, your God, and the ordinances and statutes he has enjoined on you. Do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord that you may, according to his word, prosper, and may enter in and possess the good land which the Lord promised on oath to your fathers, thrusting all your enemies out of your way. Therefore, the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes in fear of the Lord, our God, that we may always have as prosperous and happy a life as we have today; and our justice before the Lord, our God, is to consist in carefully observing all these commandments he has enjoined on us’ (Cf. Dt 6,1-25).
Today, a young man approaches and asks Jesus to show him the way of life. There are no other ways of life. It is only one: the observance of the commandments. Who observes them lives on earth and will live in heaven. He will have an eternity of life.

Now someone approached him and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He asked him, “Which ones?” And Jesus replied, ” ‘You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother’; and ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.'” The young man said to him, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to (the) poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

However, a man cannot live only for him and let others run through ways of death. These people must also be helped so that they enter life. To do this, one needs to dedicate himself to this mission, which consists in leaving the things of the earth in order to look after the great spiritual goods of his brothers. To such a person Jesus makes this great request: stop thinking only about your material life. Dedicate yourself to salvation and to the spiritual and eternal life of your brothers. Strip yourself of your possessions. Sell them. Donate the proceeds to the poor. You will have a treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me. Jesus calls this person to a great and immense charity. He wants to associate him with his own love. This person suffocates this call for his many goods. It is a sadness that freezes the mind and the heart.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints make us instruments of true love.