The more I read Sacred Scripture and the longer I am a priest, the more evidence I see that God’s Word is very much a living Word and is always applicable to our time and place. On this Sunday our first reading from Sirach tells us that God’s ways are literally Life and death, and the choices we make will be given us by God out of our Free Will. Good or evil, fire or water, it’s ours for the asking. So what shall we choose?

Our second reading from 1 Corinthian provides us with St. Paul’s words on the Wisdom of God—how beautiful and powerful and life-giving it is: “What eye has not seen, nor ear has heard”…what God has prepared for us—for those who believe in Him—is beyond human understanding and but it is revealed to us in the Holy Spirit. Will we listen?

In the Matthean Gospel from Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, the Jesus informs us that He did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets but rather that He came to fulfill the Law and Prophets—for us to go even further beyond what the Law requires—beyond what is obligated—and Christianize the Law. By listening more deeply to His Word and choosing to do more than just the bare minimum, we shall choose the excellence in life, or in marriage and family and in community…in faith! Will we choose excellence?

Today’s readings ask us to make a choice by way of the beautiful gift of Free Will which a loving God has provided us; we are not created as little automatons but rather as loving children, never forced to choose God but always free to select the “other”. The choices are ours!

But in order to exercise the gift of Free Will the Church would say that first we must have a well-formed conscious. To be able to make a Good decision one needs to have the wherewithal to wisely consider the choices and then act based upon knowledge and wisdom—the Truth, if you will—to select between “fire and water, good and evil…”

In the Catholic faith a well-formed conscious comes from being well-Catechized or trained in the ways of faith, including but not limited to: faith formation classes which provide the “why” behind a Church teaching and not just the “shall or shall nots” of faith. Why is all human life sacred? Why is marriage sacred and vital for the family? Why does Christ Love us and how does that love motivate us? Why did the Lord give the Church a Sacramental Life?

The applicability of our faith in our culture is dependent upon knowing and understanding our faith. To discern the Truths of faith and not simply to accept what the “world”—the news or movies or culture—claims our faith to be requires understanding it and then living it out daily.

What is the Bare Minimum? Many times before I have sadly heard parents say that once their child is confirmed then the child can decide if they will attend Mass or even remain a Catholic. I know at 15 years old I wasn’t ready to make life-altering decisions on my own, who really can?

Does faith formation end with Confirmation classes? Do we expect that a 15 year old, no matter how knowledgeable or wise, is able to possess the wherewithal to make such a decision about such an important matter without the support and encouragement of their parents?

As we listen to the Gospel of Matthew today and as we recall the teachings of Christ and the meaning of His Love in and for our lives, shouldn’t we all—the community of believers—work to encourage each of us whether we are old and steady in our faith or young and wondering about life or somewhere in between—encourage each other to go beyond the bare minimum and strive to know God and to see how many ways we may apply our faith to daily living. Would not our lives and in fact the world be a better place? Might we be happier, more hopeful, and more at peace in this ever-fleeting world? For some their daily mantra might be, “What’s the least I can do, and I mean the very last.” For others we hope the catchphrase is: “Here I am, Lord, I’ve come to do Your Will.”