The Torah of the Messiah, as Pope Benedict describes, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, brings us freedom. Jesus preaches that the laws of man put us in bondage and control our freedom. By adopting the laws of the Torah of the Messiah, we are released from the earthly laws and are placed in this new state of freedom. But, Jesus quickly reminds us that this freedom needs to be led by the Spirit of God. How we use our freedom becomes the new focus and that is when the Torah of the Messiah comes into play. If you reread the beatitudes in the context of our earthly world with our human values, the commandments may seem unusual and perhaps ridiculous. It is this type of thinking that places us at great risk to be attacked by the dark spirits. Our mind is so cluttered, literally encapsulated, by the worldly wants and desires that we lose sight of God. We fail to see the face of Jesus in our brothers and sisters. We quickly dismiss the Torah of the Messiah as something that is unreachable, unattainable and therefore, we can not possibly spend our time pursuing the excellence of Jesus' words. That is the beauty of Lent. It is a time to be called to silence and meditation. It is a time to be in prayerful conversation with God. The Lenten season allows us to shed some of the distractions so that we can begin to focus on the beatitudes. I pray that you continue to have a productive Lent as you prepare for the miracle of Easter.