This is the movement of the Holy Family.

Welcome to our Rotary meditation.

Let's begin in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Let's call to mind all those we've promised to pray for.

St. Augustine says the sermon on the mount contains everything we need to know to live as Christians and to become perfectly

happy and holy.

So today we begin to meditate on this great teaching of Jesus.

He begins by saying, do not imagine that I have come to abolish the law or the

prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them.

And I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke

will disappear from the law until its purpose is achieved.

For I tell you, if your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and the Pharisees,

you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.

So taken at face value this sounds like Jesus is a harsh guardian of the law

who will keep track of every little offense?

And if this saying of Jesus strikes you in the wrong way,

it's because we misunderstand the law.

The moral law is an expression of our design as human persons. If we live

according to the moral law then we're living according to our design and we will flourish.

But if we break the moral law, we are actually breaking our own design. We're going against the way we were

designed for happiness. Jesus made us to be perfectly happy.

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