Reflection on today's gospel, Matthew 5:17-19"I was always too strict with my daughter," the mother complained bitterly, "and now that she's gone, she won't have anything to do with me." The woman poured out her story of regret and loneliness, recounting all the mistakes she'd made as a mother, agonizing over the broken relationship between her and her daughter. She realized, maybe too late, that she had laid the law down too hard on her daughter while she was growing up. Now she was suffering the consequences.
The Jewish community, to whom Matthew's gospel was addressed, was critical of Jesus for not reaffirming the law as the way to salvation. Jesus taught that moral righteousness is of value in the kingdom, but even those who break the law have a place in the kingdom. Jesus places the relationship between God and human above maintaining moral righteousness.
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