Please read the passage before the commentary
Jesus spoke about fulfilling the Law, not abolishing the law. Sirach, a rather late Old Testament book, stressed that we have the ability, it is clearly possible for us to keep the commandments, provided that we sincerely want to keep them.
We have the choice. Just as we can choose life over death, the live carefully instead of dangerously, so we have a choice to sin or not to sin. We cannot say that the commandments are impossible or irrelevant. We cannot just arbitrarily decide not to keep the commandments.
We learn safe habits, such as drying our hands before turning lights on or off. We learn how to ride bicycles and drive cars so as to avoid accidents and crashes. We also learn respect for other’s life, property and good name.
Just as we have choices affecting the health of our bodies and minds, and likewise make choices in how we treat family, friends, and other people, so likewise we have choices about good and evil.
We can decide to live dangerously, but it will probably cause us great harm and death. We can choose to treat others selfishly, but we will probably lose many friends.
Sirach believes that the Lord God has immense wisdom and power. The Lord understands our needs and our deeds. The Lord has compassion on those who reverence him.
As we face the beginning of Lent, we may find the words of Sirach encouraging for us. We have the ability, it is clearly possible for us to keep the commandments, provided that we sincerely want to keep them.
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