God’s law is one of the themes in today’s readings. In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses speaks about the law that God is asking the people to respect and observe. In today’s Gospel, Jesus explains that he is not there to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them. We don’t hear people talking about God’s laws very much in today’s modern world. Instead, we hear a lot about secular justice, about the politically correct thing to do, about not wanting to offend anyone, and about not limiting the freedom of an individual to do what he wants to do in life. We don’t often hear people talking about the content of God’s law, of what he is asking us to do.
We who serve in ministry in Catholic and Protestant churches often talk about what we see in society today when we get together. I have been in ministerial associations of pastors in the areas where I have served in Yazoo City, Tupelo, and Pearl. We talk about how we Christians live in a society that is becoming more secular. Society seems to be turning its back on God in different ways, going in a different direction. We saw this during the pandemic as well. During the pandemic, some churches in California successfully brought a case against the California governor before the Supreme Court, alleging that while he has broadly closed down churches, sporting events, liquor stores, retail establishments, and other such secular institutions have been treated differently. A majority of the justices agreed with those churches who brought forth this case. With some of the faithful not coming back to Mass now on a regular basis since the pandemic, we as a Church want to reach out to society and to draw people back into our fold. However, we are also called to embrace God’s law and to proclaim it to the world as well. God is love and mercy, for sure, but out of that love and mercy, God asks for our obedience, expecting a certain standard of conduct from us.
I want to mention the saint we celebrate today: Louise the Marillac, who lived in the 17th century in France. Even though she felt called to become a religious sister as a young woman, her confessor encouraged her to marry, only to see her husband pass away not many years into their marriage. She became friends with Francis de Sales, an influential Bishop at the time, and also Vincent de Paul, whose religious order the Vincentians served the poor and the oppressed. Through mission work with Vincent de Paul, she and the women who served with her formed the Sisters of Charity of Vincent de Paul. De Paul had a vision of sisters who would serve the margins of society, as he told her: “Your convent will be the house of the sick; your cell, a hired room; your chapel, the parish church; your cloister, the streets of the city or the wards of the hospital.” In the last years of her life, in poor health, she traveled throughout France to establish her community members in hospitals, orphanages and other institutions serving the poor. At her death on March 15, 1660, the congregation had more than 40 houses in France. She is a great saint of social justice for us today.
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