An Ethics for All

Gospel: Matthew 12: 1-8

In today's Gospel portion, a group of Pharisees berate Jesus' disciples for plucking grain and eating on the Sabbath, seeing this as a violation of the Sabbath work rule.  The response of Jesus is a telling one.  He gives examples of a king and group of priests who violate this same rule and yet are seen as heroic within the tradition.  This response of Jesus provides us with reflection on what law and ethics mean for the entire human race.

The subtle implication of Jesus' counterexamples is that law and ethics are often imposed rigidly on the poor and those with little power in society, while those in privileged classes and states of life live by an entirely different set of standards, if any at all.  But if law and ethics are to have any meaning at all, then they must apply equally to all people, regardless of position or class in society.  Having such double standards results in lawlessness and amorality.

In our own day we see the same double standard in our political leaders and clerics.  They preach and seek to enforce a rigid morality upon the commoners while doing whatever they please.  The political leaders who rail against "illegals" while committing all sorts of lawbreaking, and the cleric who wags his finger at his congregation for sexual errancies while excusing those of his priestly brethren are the real enemies of law and ethics in our world.  Today is a day for us to live with integrity the life Jesus calls us to follow.