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It’s Day 260!!
MCNUGGET DAY!!
We are going to summarize the Moral Law
It is WRITTEN on the human heart
It is REVEALED to us by the Lord God in the Old Covenant
It is FULFILLED in Jesus Christ
Jesus gives us the capability and power to live out the New Law in our lives
Let’s pray!!
Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we give you praise. And we ask that you please receive our thanks. Receive our praise because you are good, because of who you are, not merely for what you have done in our lives, but most of all for who you are, Lord God. You deserve our praise. You deserve all glory. You deserve our hearts, our love, our YES. Help us to give you our YES today and every day. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen”
So there we have it!!
WHAT A GIFT!!
Why?
God has written the Law in our hearts
God has given us the Old Law because we did not read those hearts
AND YET…
We have this common shared reality about the fact that we know there is such a thing as right and wrong
The remarkable thing is that we largely agree
That is a great sign
Why?
Our common humanity reveals that we all have consciences
There is something in our hearts that we know when we violate the good
We know when we’ve done the bad
That is what can unite us
Paragraph 1979 says, “The natural law is immutable, permanent throughout history. The rules that express it remain substantially valid. It is a necessary foundation for the erection of moral rules and civil law.”
In the West, all of our civil laws and moral rules come from this Judeo-Christian background
Even if someone does not profess faith in the Old Testament or the New Testament, they still resonate
It resonates with us because it resonates with that deeper older law in the human heart
John Adams said that the United States is a religious country
He pointed out this constitutional republic will only work if we remain a religious people
It will only work if we continue to listen to our conscience and recognize that there is a Law Giver that was not the founding fathers
There is a Law Giver that is greater than all of us
This constitution and this whole country was built for a religious people
Not to say that America is a religion but to say that America is made up of people who had some degree of faith and knowledge of this law that God had given not only in the human heart but also through the Old Testament and the New Testament
You don’t have to be Christian or Jewish in order to be American
There is a depth in our hearts where God’s Law has already been written and this unites us
Paragraph 1975 says, “According to Scripture the Law is a fatherly instruction by God which prescribes for man the ways that lead to the promised beatitude, and proscribes the way of evil.”
The law is not some arbitrary whim
It’s not the process of some biological evolution
God has been very interested in us living right, in us choosing the good
Why?
Because when we choose the good, we experience joy
When we choose to live by the Law, we have human flourishing
God wants us to flourish
God does not give us the Law to restrict us
Let’s listen to Fr. Mike’s analogy about the instruction manual for your car…
Why does God give us His commands?
Because He is a Father who loves us
This is a Fatherly instruction for the people He has created
He made us in His image in likeness
If we live this way, we will have freedom
If we live this way, we will have joy
If we live this way, we will have love
How many of the heartaches that we experience in our daily lives are the result of us ignoring God’s commands?
Yes there is natural heartache with loss, sickness, pain, and death
BUT…
How many heartaches do we experience because of betrayal?
How many heartaches do we experience because we were not loved the way we should have been loved or we didn’t love the way we should have loved?
How many of our heartaches are because we dismissed God’s Fatherly instruction?
God gives us these commandments because He wants us to have life, freedom, and joy
Renew that commitment
“Ok, God. Not only reveal once again your Law to me, but also help me to open myself up to faith, which gives me that grace to live these Commandments. Help me to go back to your sacraments, which give me the power to live out these commandments. God, give me the grace and the Holy Spirit to live this New Law this day and every day.”
Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!
Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!
See you on the other side!!
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