Universal Law
Feb 19: Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Recently on the Classical Stuff You Should Know podcast, they’ve been talking about Kant’s categorical imperative—”Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law.” Turns out, it’s a lot more complicated than it sounds, and I recommend listening to those few episodes of Classical Stuff. But the short version is, it’s self-contradictory and doesn’t really work.
Jesus, on the other hand, offers a universal moral law that can be applied to all people at all times.
Reading 1
Lv 19:1-2, 17-18
The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.
"You shall not bear hatred for your brother or sister in your heart. Though you may have to reprove your fellow citizen, do not incur sin because of him. Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against any of your people. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD."
The latter half of this reading is what Jesus would later call the second most important commandment.1 We tend to think of it in the terms Jesus framed it— everyone is your neighbor.
But at the time Leviticus was written, that’s not at all what was meant. The law really did refer to just those people who lived around you, your kin. It’s why they had separate laws specifically for aliens.
Jesus comes along to universalize the law.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
God is both just and merciful. He knows our iniquities, but He also forgives them. Just as everything we have is a gift from God, even if it’s a few steps removed, every sin is a sin against God. So ultimately, God is the one who needs to forgive us. And He does! Not because we deserve it, but because that’s who He is.
Reading 2
1 Cor 3:16-23
Brothers and sisters: Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.
Let no one deceive himself. If any one among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool, so as to become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God, for it is written: God catches the wise in their own ruses, and again: The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
So let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you, Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or the present or the future: all belong to you, and you to Christ, and Christ to God.
This isn’t to deny that there are wise people. There certainly are! But God is so far beyond us, it’s incomprehensible. Even the wisest person is a fool next to God.
So we should always keep that in mind, when we think we’re being smart or clever.
Alleluia
1 Jn 2:5
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever keeps the word of Christ,
the love of God is truly perfected in him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Keeping the word of Christ is more important than trying to prove our own “wisdom.”
Gospel
Mt 5:38-48
Jesus said to his disciples: "You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand over your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.
"You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."
“An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” sounds violent, living in the modern day, after 2,000 years of Christianity. But at the time, it was actually a way of reducing harm; you weren’t supposed to go past equal retribution.
Jesus modifies the law by making it even stricter. Offer no resistance. Don’t just love your neighbor (as in Leviticus), but love your enemy.
Why? Because then we are being like God, which is to say, holy. “Holiness” means to be separate. In a sense, God’s justice is entirely separate from human justice, which is based on retribution. But “the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God.” His mercy is universal.
Think of it in terms of scale. Mother Theresa is, say, 100 on the Goodness Scale, and Hitler is 1. But that’s a human scale. Considered on a scale of 1 to a billion, the difference between 1 and 100 isn’t very much. Considered on an infinite scale, it’s impossible to even tell.
God sees us like that. It’s all mercy, our lives, our existence, everything we do, say, or be. So we should treat everyone that way, the way God treats us.