It is 7th March 2018. The readings are from Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9; and the Gospel from Matthew 5:17-19. God expects us to do certain things in our lives to be peaceful and happy. Our wisdom and prudence strengthened only by following what God demands from us. The laws and statues God has put forth for us to reach God and make ourselves at peace with one another. In the first reading, Moses persuaded the people to listen and obey the laws of God. “For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him? And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today?” (Deut.4:8). It is not just having a privilege to be the people of God. We have due responsibility to demonstrate in action and in faith how God’s people would behave and act. At times, we are so obsessed with our privileges forgetting the demands of life and the challenges that we need to face to be faithful to the ways God has proposed us to do. Let us not just fight for privileges only, let us be serious with the responsibilities that are asked from us. The responsorial Psalm acclaims, “O praise the Lord, Jerusalem.” (Ps.147:12). In the Gospel, Jesus reminds us all just not be familiar with the laws of God rather to makes the laws alive by keeping and spreading them through our personal lives. The spirit of the law must be practiced. We must translate the letter of the law in our personal lives. It is indeed easy to be a people-pleaser than to please God. When we relate with God in spirit and truth, we will not find hard to follow them. Laws of God must not be looked as burden around our lives rather a blessing to reach and connect with God in love. May the Lord bless to be generous, open and docile in following what God wants us to do. May God reward us individually and as a community for having been faithful to the laws. May you have a good day. God bless you.