I want to, first, thank all of you for your prayers last weekend while I was on retreat with the other deacons of the archdiocese. It was one of the best retreats I’ve been on in quite some time. We were told on the Friday evening that we arrived that it was going to be a silent retreat. However, the silent part only lasted less than 24 hours. The theme for the retreat was “Let the fire of God consume you.” The facilitator, who was the only one to speak lead us through short sessions to help us let go and let the Holy Spirit lead us He also kept the Body of Christ exposed for adoration in the chapel for the entire weekend. It was a very refreshing and renewing weekend.

    There’s a common quote, which I believe comes originally from Benjamin Franklin, that says there are only two certainties in life, death and taxes. I would like to add a third one to that; —– rules. There is some form of rules or laws that all people must follow. No matter where you live in the world, there are laws that must be followed. And no matter what age you are there are there are rules to be followed. From the time we’re old enough to walk, we learn we can’t touch certain things, we can’t do certain things. when were little we may not be able to go into certain rooms in our house, maybe we can’t go outside alone? Every household has their own rules. Then as we get older some rules change, and when we start going to school, we learn all kinds of new rules. Laws of what we can and can’t do.  When we turn 16 and get our drivers licenses, we learn a whole new set of rules and laws. When we start a new job or career there are more rules; and when we get married, WHOA. Up until the day we die we will always have to follow some set of rules and laws.

     Let’s face it, as a society, we need laws to live by. Without laws there would be total chaos. The purpose of any government is to regulate and promote the general welfare of a particular society and the people it governs, and it does that by first setting up a system of laws for its people to follow.

     Today’s readings reflect upon law, ——— Moses’ Law, Christ’s Law, and it also reflects on our own civil law. The readings also reflect upon the uses—– and the abuses of law.

     In Old Testament times, Jewish law began with Moses and the Ten Commandments——–or God’s Law. It wasn’t long after Moses first received those Ten Commandments that Jewish leaders began adding to them; adding more and more laws for the people to follow. By the time of Jesus there were 613 written laws that the Jewish people were to follow. Besides the written laws, there were many other unwritten laws and customs that were passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation. The result was that with such a complicated system, it was nearly impossible to follow. No matter how hard they tried, the Jewish people were sure to break some of the laws. For that reason, Jesus once said, in John’s Gospel, that none of the Jews keep the law. Peter also said the same thing later in the Acts of the Apostles. The Law of Purification that we hear about in today’s Gospel is an example of one of those unwritten laws that was passed down by word of mouth. Jesus and his disciples were not following this law and the scribes and Pharisees were more than happy to catch them in such an act of disobedience to the law. But when questioned, Jesus didn’t directly answer them but instead quoted scripture, —– a passage from Isaiah saying that people’s worship was only lip-service, while their hearts were far from God. Jesus explains to them that their problem was that they were forgetting about God’s commandments and instead only paying attention to human traditions. Jesus, on other occasions had said that he was not against Jewish Law, but what was wrong was following them as an end in itself; following them as a way to feel righteous and holy. The Law had become oppressive and was being used by the Pharisees and scribes to keep themselves in positions of power. Finally, when talking to the people, Jesus gives the answer to why he and his disciples didn’t purify before eating. He said that nothing that goes into you makes you unclean; it is what goes out of you that makes you unclean. Jesus saw the true purpose of the Pharisees and wanted to make it clear that it wasn’t a matter of failing to do these pious acts, but what is in your heart that counts. Whenever we fall into a mode of worship that is all about externals, that is, the things we say and do and not about the internals, what’s in our heart, that’s when we risk hearing the words that Jesus told the Pharisees, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” What we say and what we do is important, but they must come from the heart.

      Jesus goes on to give a list of vices that makes one unclean, —– fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride and folly.  These vices correspond with many of the Ten Commandments about relating with others. In our first reading, Moses was explaining to the Israelites that obedience to the commandments of God was mandatory; but now Jesus was lifting the Ten Commandments to a new level, the level of the heart. As we see from Jesus’ list of vices, which are sins against love of neighbor, the law that one is now asked to obey is the law of love. For the same reason, our second reading today from James tells us that religion that is pure is caring for other people.

     At the time of Jesus, the Scribes and Pharisees had moved farther and farther away from God’s Laws and put more emphasis on their own man-made laws. Does that sound familiar? It seems that history does repeat itself.

Our country, The United States of America, was founded on Christian principles and Christian values. Although our founding fathers wrote into the constitution a separation of church and state, the basic laws of our country were loosely based on the Ten Commandments. For many, many years monuments with the Ten Commandments had been located at many of our courthouses across the country. One of the three branches of our government, the legislative, creates and passes new laws. Another branch of our government, the judicial, interprets those laws. And we have various agencies that enforce those laws. But just as in Jewish Old Testament times our laws have slowly drifted away from God’s laws. Many of our laws have become more self-serving rather than for love of neighbor. We’re becoming a “Me” society, where everything is about “Me, me, me” and “My rights”. And those with no, or very little voice have no rights. “Thou shall not kill” has been loosely translated in our country over the years, but in recent decades has become, “Though shall not kill, unless you’re unborn and have no voice, or if you’re terminally ill or elderly and feel like a burden on society.  Laws are being enacted that force us to go against our religious beliefs. People are having to fight more and more for their religious freedom.

     A civilized society needs laws. But just as in Jesus’ time, those laws can become burdensome and abusive. Laws need to be fair and equitable, protecting the rights of all, especially those without a voice, and allowing for religious freedom.

     Above all we must follow God’s law, the most fair and equitable of all laws. As the Israelites were commanded to obey the statutes and ordinances of God the Father so that they may live, enter and occupy the promise land, we today are also commanded to obey the teachings of Jesus. The teachings of Jesus are our blessed hope that leads to eternal life and salvation. But just words and actions aren’t enough. What matters is the motivation of our actions. Jesus wants our hearts. Our words and actions must come from the heart, out of love. And by persevering in our living faith, through the Blood of the Lamb, we may finally rejoice in the eternal Kingdom of Heaven.