One thing that is true of American culture is that we are obsessed with laws. We are governed by a myriad of laws on every level. I own an apartment that is governed by a homeowners’ association. At times I believe it is easier to amend the Constitution than it is to deal with the association’s rules. Analyzing the titles of books, motivational programs and pop media, and the words “rules” or “laws” so often appears either in the title or in the description. This week as our children head back to school, they will be indoctrinated in new school rules and policies, and discover that the rules that work for one teacher do not work for another. Everyone creates his or her own rules and we all need to learn how to navigate those rules.
In the First Reading, Moses further instructs the people on the Law of the Lord. Moses tells Israel that their neighbors will be envious that God is so close to them, while their gods seem distant and precocious. God gave them the Law to unify them as a nation, and to insure the rights and dignity of each person in his or her station in life. It was through their law that God’s justice can be realized in the world.
Jesus debated with the Pharisees over the fact that he and his disciples did not strictly adhere to their interpretation of how to observe the Law. As with any other social group, the Jews had different interpretations of Law and its application.
However, Jesus is speaking here about Law on an entirely different level. Jesus reminds his disciples that the essence of external Law is to serve the good of society and the welfare of individuals. We are not here because God wants us to follow a law code. The law is not superior to the people.
More importantly, Jesus is emphasizing the notion of the interiority of the Law. Some of the Laws – especially those that sparked the debate in this encounter with the Pharisees – are on a natural level rather frivolous. There is, to be sure, a priority of Law. Some are more important than others. For example, Jesus will state in essence that Moral Law is superior to dietary law.
An abiding sense of Law – the moral demands of discipleship – that resides on one’s heart, governs one’s moral actions. Where we see sin present within ourselves, within our Church, and in the world, we can quickly come to judge actions as sinful and impose shame, guilt, and condemnation. Indeed these are justified responses, though this too, can be sinful as a response.
Any external moral failure is the extension of an unchecked and unbridled internal moral failure. Jesus makes this point quite clear: “From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”
For our part we must take great care in the proper moral education and foundation of those entrusted to our care: the students in our schools and religious education programs, our children, and those who are in formation for ministry in the Church. We need to strengthen and enrich one’s internal moral compass if we ever hope to confront and correct external moral failure.
There are many dissonant voices out there, and the proliferation of social media and easy access to all forms of information and entertainment, can make one a moral dullard incapable of truly discerning right from wrong.
Jesus warns us against moral hubris and demands of us an accounting for the moral education and formation that we share with those under our care. The reality is that moral failure begets moral failure, for our internal moral compass is formed not merely by words, but as we observe and experience life and the actions of others.
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.