1.5.10

5 January 2010
Memorial of Saint John Neumann, bishop


Reading I 1 Jn 4:7-10
Responsorial Psalm 72:1-2, 3-4, 7-8
Gospel Mk 6:34-44

I think a lot about rules. As the mother of a two year old, a large portion of my day revolves around the enforcement of rules (however inconsistent, capricious, or altogether unsuccessful my attempts at maintaining order may be). As a parish lay minister, I spend a great deal of my time helping other people understand and follow the rules set forth by the hierarchy of the Church in the small snatches of Canon Law I have come to know well. I can give a time-out like a pro and I can name all of the Holy Days of Obligation for American Catholics in a given liturgical year before you can say “credo in unum Deum.” I am The Enforcer. Seriously, someone should give me a badge already.

But, here’s the thing about rules… here’s what gets lost in the midst of my relentless finger wagging and “no, no, no”-ing and my propagation of the seemingly arbitrary guidelines set forth for the living of the Christian faith: LOVE.

L-O-V-E.

As the writer of John’s letter reminds us in today’s first reading, love (Love Incarnate) is the heart of the Christian life. Love is not bound up in the rules of what we deign proper and possible. Love is undaunted by our busybody attempts to domesticate it... make it respectable. Love is subversive. Mark’s Gospel has Jesus defying the rules of what is prudent (asking the disciples to feed several thousand people) and reasonable (feeding 5,000 people with a few loaves and fish). Love is big. It messes up (in most beautiful and holiest of senses) our best ideas about who we are and (more importantly) who we are in relationship to God and one another.

So, what am I fumbling at here? Am I advocating some sort of willy-nilly, hippie-esque, "do what you feel" love anarchy? No (though the crayon and marker all over our apartment walls might suggest otherwise). What I'm getting at is this: Rules are fine. In fact, they're better than fine... they're good. But they're only good insofar as they serve as guide posts along the straight and narrow path... the path that is perfect love, for Love's sake. Rules for the sake of rules is anathema... at least Jesus seemed to think so in the context of his interaction with religious authorities of his day more concerned with obeying the letter of the Law than living lives replete with unabashed love for God and neighbor.

This is what I resolve do to... this is what I will think about next time I point in frustration to the rules scrawled on the dry erase board on our refrigerator (which, in truth, is hardly a compelling demonstration for a two year old anyway) or thumb through my Catechism or Archdiocesan guide for Sacramental Preparation: Love. Does this rule (or my enforcement of said rule) correspond to Love (in the big, dynamic, ultimate sense of the word)? If not, it isn't of much use... in fact, it becomes somewhat of a violent thing. So, in the holster where I keep my wagging finger and my "no-no-no's" and my ability to understand the intricacy of ecclesial policy and procedure I will also keep Love... more Love than any of those other things. Love first. Love mostly.