No, I am not talking about the super-popular television show that follows the investigation and persecution processes of a crime. The concept of law and order simply means that for a society to be ordered and have an opportunity to flourish, all its members need to have respect for and be obedient to a set of rules called law. Failing to do so would mean the breaking of society, a disorder in its truest sense.

As a new nation formed after escaping slavery in Egypt and journeying for forty days in the desert, Israel needed a law to regulate its people and life in the new land. In today’s first reading Moses reminds them that this law came from God, and it is more just than the laws of all the other nations.

Fast forward a few hundred years to the time of Jesus, the so-called Law of Moses or Torah was still considered sacred by the Jewish people. At the same time, the progress of time created additional rules and customs. We hear about one of them in the Gospel today: the washing of one’s hands before eating as a purification ritual.

By criticizing Jesus and his disciples, the Pharisees and scribes fall into a legalism that leads to an unproductive moralizing. They fail to see the true purpose of the law.

The Catechism teaches us that: “The moral law finds its fullness and its unity in Christ. Jesus Christ is in person the way of perfection. He is the end of the law, for only he teaches and bestows the justice of God: “For Christ is the end of the law, that every one who has faith may be justified.” (paragraph 1953)

The Christian moral life begins with a loving relationship with God, a covenant love made possible by the sacrifice of Christ. This should tell us that no longer can we follow the law of the Church simply because of fear of eternal damnation. Instead, as Christians, we act on the Law of the Gospel out of the love infused by the Holy Spirit, prompted first of all by an encounter with a loving and merciful God in Christ.

Open your senses and your heart to the various ways that Christ might encounter you in your life this week. From that encounter, law and order will follow suit.

Peace and all good, Fr. Sam

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