Gospel: John 14: 21-26
The Jewish Law contains 613 laws for people to obey. Which ones take priority? What happens when obligations conflict with one another? These are the thorny questions that arise when so many laws are present. Here is the origin of various schools of interpretation on the one hand and absolutism on the other, neither of which provide successful resolutions to the dilemmas these questions present.
In today's Gospel Jesus has only one command for us to follow: love one another as he loved us; show mercy to others as he showed mercy to us. This way of life requires life-long and daily discernment of how to apply this in my daily life. There is no recipe or rule book. It is a continual relationship with God and others where we seek to know each day the various ways we are to love others and show mercy.
How such a simple command grew into a complex theology and system of canon law is a feat of human engineering. We humans prefer systems of law to a path of discernment because it is frankly easier on us. Discernment requires an encounter with God that presents us with difficult truths about ourselves as well as real challenges to love in difficult situations. A system of law is much easier because we tend to use it to judge others and find ways to avoid its requirements for ourselves. We can hide from God in the thicket of laws, shield ourselves from our neighbor in need of love and mercy. But the questions of judgment day remain: did we show mercy to our neighbor? Did we love?
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