Friday of Week 15 in Ordinary Time
Isa 38:1-6,21-22,7-8
Mt 12:1-8
The Pharisees noticed it and said to him: “Look, your disciples are doing something that is forbidden on the sabbath. But he said to them: “Have you not read what David did when he and his followers were hungry…?”
The times we are living in seem to be getting more and more legalistic every day. Or perhaps, I am just getting old. When I was a child, there had not appeared to have been so many rules and regulations to follow. We had the main gist of what we could and could not do, and that was it. But now, we have to read all of the very fine print (getting difficult as I get more long-sighted) so we do not get caught out by some overlooked condition. Why do we now require so much hand holding? Why are we so scared of putting a foot wrong? Are people now so unreasonable that we will get censured for the tiniest misstep?
My first job was with a Government ministry. I was thrown into the deep end of the ocean and placed in a team tasked to review and refine a piece of legislation. 2 years later, I was involved in another refining of the same piece of legislation. What struck me was just how clunky and clumsy that Act became. From a simple piece outlining basic procedures, it morphed into a monstrosity full of extremely detailed prescribed steps to take. The only thing with more and more confusing instructions is probably the assembly manual for a child car seat.
The reason was clear — with a simple, principle-based piece of legislation, loopholes can appear. Loopholes can be found by anybody that wishes to get around the law. Why do people want to get around the law? A simple explanation is to benefit themselves over others. And since laws are meant to compel behaviour towards a certain outcome perceived to be positive, we now need very detailed prescriptions of the law in order to prevent the worst of us from taking advantage of everyone else. In short, laws are clunky because we are selfish.
Rejecting the Law
Let’s be honest. At least, I can be honest — I do try to look for loopholes sometimes. I attempt to worm my way around terms and conditions because hey, never try never know, right? And who wants to lose out? A disclaimer: it is only for insignificant matters. I don’t worm my way out of criminal transgressions. But there are people who do just that.
Societal laws aside, we also tend to reject God’s laws. There are too many, “Catholic, but…” types of Catholics around. I may well be one also, from time to time. For sure the laws are difficult to follow, and we defend and justify our decisions to reject the law. This is probably human nature, so we do not think too badly of ourselves by how often we mess up. But this is fine because we do mess up. God knows that. What we need to do is also to admit to messing up and then be reconciled to God.
Laws are made for people
God’s law is really just a very simple concept — to love one another just as He loves us. But if we are honest, this can be vague. For example, what exactly does Love mean? Is it being nice, or is it being firm, or being both at the same time? Interpretations are varied and ever changing on this one and, inconveniently, there is no definition in the bible. However, as far as the Church is concerned, there are several guidelines about what Love is. There is the Catechism, there are encyclicals, Papal addresses, books that have been written, that explain what Love is and how we can Love one another.
Herein lies the problem. The more we attempt an explanation, the more we fail to grasp the key concept as we zoom in only on the littlest details and nuances. This is unfortunate, as the ones we are trying to explain to, the ones we are trying to teach, or the ones we condemn, are the ones that need attention and care above any instruction. Respectful parenting is all the rage these days, as are many other non ‘Tiger Parent’ methods. The main commonality they have is the exhortation to prioritise the relationship you have with your child. Instead of straight up punishments for bad behaviour, we are tasked to find out the reasons for the behaviour and to find out what our children are trying to tell us. We have to put them ahead of what we expect of them.
I am not implying that rules and laws are a bad thing. They are necessary as guidelines so we do not fall outside the bounds of what is acceptable. We can certainly stand firm and explain the rules later, after we have established an actual respectful relationship with those we are trying to instruct. Other than losing focus on the person, too much attention to the rules can lead us astray, in the sense that we forget the whole purpose of the rule in the first place.
Spirit of the Law
An example would be abstaining from meat on Fridays. What is the point of abstinence? To make a sacrifice on the day Christ died. To learn to deny ourselves. And in the process, learn to choose the difficult but loving option. That is the spirit of the law that we need to focus on and remember. There are so many ways we only look at the letter of the law and miss the whole point: when we kick up a fuss or bother others when there are no non-meat options in a meal provided for us; when abstaining from meat is easy for us anyway, and that is all we abstain from while indulging in everything else; when we take the chance to enjoy a sumptuous seafood buffet on Friday.
My elder daughter is a student leader. One of the things she was concerned about was how she would be able to ensure school rules are followed by other students. I told her that the school rules exist in order to create a safe and conducive environment for both students and teachers, and one way would be to build rapport with fellow students and help them see that the rules are there for their benefit as well. And I also told her snitches get stitches, which kind of summarises the point of today’s gospel when the Pharisees got well-schooled by Jesus.
This gospel passage illustrates how focussing on the rules alone will make you miss the point of the rules, to miss the reason these rules were made. The reason for these rules are always the Person, specifically, for the good of the Person, any and every person. And in our words and deeds, as long as we remember this concept, we should be able to discern the right thing to do.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Felicia Zou)
Prayer: Dear Lord, sometimes we lose our way. Sometimes, we lose sight of You. Sometimes, we end up hurt, and hurting others. Help us and guide us, that we may find our way back to You.
Thanksgiving: Dear Lord, we thank You for Your unending love and patience for us, even when we fall so many times.
OXYGEN 
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