At today’s Novus Ordo Mass we were reminded that Our Lord
did not come to abolish the Law but to complete it; to perfect it. Thus he
says, “You have heard it said ‘You shall not kill’, but I say this to you:
anyone who is angry with His brother will be subject to judgement”. He thus pushes
the law further; He does not demolish it.
It struck me that law got a
very bad write-up in the 1960’s and 70’s when it was commonly presented as
opposed to charity. Thus grew the idea that ‘laws are meant to be broken’ –but
God did not give us the Ten Commandments in order that we should break them; He
gave them to us so that we would be aware of when we were breaking them (breaking the natural law). Even in
family life, we don’t make family rules such as “stay out of your sister’s
bedroom” to be broken; we expect them to be kept. Law being ‘reason devoid of
passion’ (Aristotle) it seems to me we only abandon law when to give free reign
to our passions. Whether it is the Man in the Pew or the Pope, the breaking of
law is not to be encouraged since law protects justice, without which there is
no charity.
I am often asked why I am exacting
about liturgy. The answer is, when I go before God I cannot offer Him a perfect
life; I will stand before Him with my short temper, the criticisms I have made
of others, my laziness etc. But if I obey the rules of the liturgy then there may
be at least one area of my life I can offer to Him unsullied by my passions.
Why is it that people refuse to strike their break at the Confiteor, or to bow
during the Creed? Whatever their reason, it seems to me it stems from pride; a
pride that has made them lord and master of the liturgy rather than its
servant. And that is not good. and there are many liturgical norms that are frequently broken, such as allowing appeals to be made from the lectern and omitting the Communion plate, for example.
So when we hear law castigated
as contrary to the Christian life (be it castigated by the Pope, a Bishop, a Presbyter
or the Man in the Pew) we can know their humility is on the wane on that they
have become lord of the liturgy rather than its servant.
I hope to see a return to a healthy
respect for the Church’s laws and norms that we may retain our humility. To
break the law is to place oneself above the law of God and of Holy Mother
Church. And pride is a deadly sin. Surely we have enough sins to answer for
without adding to them what is simple and easy to do? There is nothing simpler
to do than follow the laws of Holy Mother Church in our worship of God.
