A lawyer asked Jesus in
an attempt to trip him up, Teacher, which
is the greatest of the laws, and we know very well Jesus answer[1].
There were 613
laws detailed in the Torah[2]. All
were seen as the direct revelation from God of what He wanted people to do. The
Pharisees were determined that God's will be followed. By the time of the Lord,
many were mere legalists, concerned with the minimum of what was expected of
them. But there were many others who
were quite sincere. How can we serve
God? Of all the precepts of the Torah,
which were the most important?, the scholar of the law asked. Jesus' answer was a combination of the great Shema Israel: and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all
your soul, and with all your might[3],
and Leviticus you shall love your
neighbor as yourself[4]. He pointed out the two fundamental precepts
from which common sense would dictate what God wants. There was nothing that
said, "You should place God before your stuff. That was implied in the
first precept of loving God with all our heart soul and might. There was
nothing that said you must give a piece of meat to the widow that was implied
in "love your neighbor as yourself."
Jesus says that
all of scripture, Moses and the prophets, is based on these laws. Therefore,
there are far more ways for a Christian to act than the 613 laws of the Torah,
or the laws and moral precepts of the Catholic Church[5].
The trouble is
that we are tempted to take a legalistic and therefore minimal view of how we
should serve God. With regard to worship
we used to experience some people showing up for Mass at the Gospel and leaving
at the Our Father because that was defined as what the minimal attendance at
Mass was. Thank God those days are over and minimal attendance is no longer
defined. You either go to Church to worship with the community or you don't. We
shouldn't be so concerned with the minimum that we forget what is at the heart
of the law.
The heart of the
law regarding others is that we treat them with the respect and dignity that
they deserve. All of us are people made in the image and likeness of God. There
are no written laws defining how we are to treat people with dignity. There were no laws saying how much butter
should go to the widow and her children. There are no specific laws saying that
we have got to help the pregnant woman with no means of caring for the new life
within her. We do this because we cannot claim to be loving God and neighbor if
we do not help them.
Years ago during
my father´s funeral my friends and partners from Starbucks Coffee, at the end of their shift, very late, brought all
sorts of sandwiches and beverages. You have all done this or something like
this. Now, there is no specific law saying
you have to bring over some food to the grieving. But there is the heart of the law of
Christianity that says you have to help those who are hurting.
Perhaps this is
simple common sense. But it is common sense that flows from the deep seated
need to allow the love of Christ within us to be expressed wherever possible. We
don't need specific laws to tell us how to act. In fact, if we refused to act
unless there was a law telling us what to do and when to do it, then the law
would hurt us rather than help us. We are to act out of love, not out of
obligation. Church laws can give life or they can stifle life. If a law is seen
from the minimal viewpoint, it stifles life. Jesus was not interested in this
and often indicated his low opinion of people concerned with the minimum. But
Church law can also give life. Church laws can point us in a direction where we
can best serve God. We have an
obligation to charity. That means we have to seek out those who need our help,
and not be concerned with whether or not there is a specific law to do so.
Loving God and
neighbor must be the fundamental precepts of our lives. Jesus says all of scripture flows from these
laws. The Bible is the book of God's
love for his people. Every action of the Almighty, from our creation through
our redemption as detailed in the Bible is an expression of the Infinite Love
our God has for us. To really be a Godly
people, we have to give life to the scripture by allowing the actions of our
lives to resonate the voice of his love.
In the Book of
Jeremiah, the prophet predicts what Jesus tells us is fundamental to His Way:
This is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those
days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon
their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people[6] ■
[1] You shall love the Lord with
your whole heart and whole soul and with all your mind.' This is the greatest
and the first commandment. The second is
like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments
the whole law is based and the prophets as well
[2] Torah (/ˈtɔːrə/; Hebrew: תּוֹרָה,
"Instruction", "Teaching"), or what is often referred to in
English as Pentateuch, is the central
concept in the religious Judaic tradition. It has a range of meanings: it can
most specifically mean the first five books of the twenty four books of the
Tanakh; it usually includes the rabbinic commentaries in it; the term Torah
means instruction and offers a way of life for those who follow it; it can mean
the continued narrative from Genesis to the end of the Tanakh; it can even mean
the totality of Jewish teaching, culture and practice. Common to all these
meanings, Torah consists of the foundational narrative of the Jewish people:
their call into being by God, their trials and tribulations, and their covenant
with their God, which involves following a way of life embodied in a set of
religious obligations and civil laws (halakha).
[3] Deuteronomy 6:5.
[4] 19:18.
[5] 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time A,
October 26, 2014. Readings: Exodus 22:20-26; Responsorial Psalm 18:2-3, 3-4,
47, 51; Reading: 1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10; Matthew 22:34-40.
[6] 31st chapter.
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