CODE OF CANON LAW

[1]While stationed in Hawaii, Judy and I were very engaged in the base parishes and local sports for our children. We’ve always taught our children to play by the rules, to be a gracious winner and loser. Hawaii was beautiful, all year you could leave the windows open and let the trade winds cool the house. It also allows you to hear a lot of what was going on outside. One day the boys were playing a pick-up football game with other local children. I could hear voices being raised in dispute, this loud discussion over the rules of the game. The last thing I heard was a loud acclamation by the neighbor’s son “Hawaiian rules!” In other words, while in Hawaii, in my backyard, we get to change the rules to suit the home field or the one who owns the ball.

Today Jesus quotes the prophet Hosea, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice” (Hos 6:6; Mt 12:7), as a response to the Pharisees’ severe insistence on putting sabbath law above human need. Matthew adapted his gospel story from the earlier Gospel of Mark, adding, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath” (Mk 2:27).

The Jewish religious leaders added 613 clarification laws to the Torah (the Law of Moses) and they slavishly were followed by the Pharisees and imposed on the Jewish people, which draws today’s challenge by the Pharisees to Jesus. Seems to me, we can be as rigid, forgetting why our religious, moral, and liturgical laws exist in the first place? Let us be reminded, the New Testament upholds the law of Christ as absolute within our faith. We must never forget this law of Christ is one of love.[2]

So, the Torah has 613 clarification laws, how many laws are in the Code of Canon Law? 1752. The Canon’s opening line sets the tone for the Law saying, “During the course of the centuries, the Catholic Church has been accustomed to reform and renew the laws of canonical discipline so that, in constant fidelity to her divine Founder, they may be better adapted to the saving mission entrusted to her.” Prompted by the same purpose Saint John Paul II promulgated the revised Code on Jan. 25, 1983, the same day Pope John XXIII did in 1959.

As interesting as all the canons are, in every canon law course I’ve participated, it’s the last canon that is heavy emphasized. Which in part says, “the salvation of souls, which must always be the supreme law in the Church, is to be kept before one’s eyes.” (can. 1752) The Passover meal, which is part of the law of Moses, was a liturgy ritualizing the complete, mutual dedication of God and the Israelites to their covenant. The lamb’s blood applied to their houses shows their compliance. In our time, it’s our participation in this Mystery, established in the law of Christ, through the blood of Jesus, ritualizes our complete, mutual dedication of God in the covenant with all His children. Our Amen, in receiving the gift of his body and blood shows our compliance to the law of love.

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[1] Scripture (NABRE), Genesis 46:1-7, 28-30; Matthew 10:16-23

[2] Weekday HomilyHelps. Exegesis by Mary Ann Getty, PhD; Homily Suggestion by Tim Cronin.