I’m sure you’ve found there are times when people want to challenge your
Catholic faith. And sometimes, it seems people are queuing up to find some
question or some difficulty they can use to catch you out. Some of the
Franciscan Friars of the Renewal in America used to use this to good effect,
running something called “Stump the Priest”, as a way of getting teenagers to
engage with religious matters and give the Catholic faith some thought. But if
we have been there, then Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has been there
first. Last week it was the disciples of the Pharisees and also the Herodians
who had a go at Him. This week it’s the Pharisees, although we’ve skipped the
section when the Sadducees have a try. They must have thought they had a
great question for Him this time. How’s He going to get out of this one?
“Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?” So first, just a bit
of background.
By “the Law” they don’t mean the law of the Roman Empire. Back then the
New Testament hadn’t been written, and the Scriptures were what are known
today as either the Old Testament or the Hebrew Scriptures. They divided
them, in simple terms, into two sections: The Law and The Prophets. The Law
was the first five books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and
Deuteronomy. If you go looking through all those and have a good bit of time,
you can find there are six hundred and thirteen different commandments,
including the Ten Commandments. So, Jesus, which is the greatest
commandment of the Law? Number 55? Number 78? How about 464? I
rather like number 602. But my friend here settles for 298. Which do you
think is the most important?
In the first reading, we can see an example of the detail some of the 613
precepts go into. So, even if we had to choose from the first reading alone,
which is the most important? The first one, about not molesting the stranger
(modern-day application: looking after immigrants, asylum seekers etc.)?
What about the second one, about not crippling the poor by first seeming to do
them a good turn by lending them some money, and then charging stupid rates
of interest? Loan sharks have been around for a good long while. You could
say the trade is ancient. Or what about the third option, about giving back
another’s cloak before sunset? In days before central heating, it could get
pretty cold at night, even in the Middle East. So, only another 610 precepts to
look at. Which is the most important? A great way to start an argument.
So Our Lord uses a technique here which you can use yourselves too: He
reframes the argument and points out, indirectly, their problem (or maybe one
of their problems): they can’t see the wood for the trees. They are so bogged
down in the details that they can’t see the overall picture. But the over-arching
answer to your question is this: first, love the Lord you God with all your
heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and secondly, love your
neighbour as yourself. Everything else is an explanation of those two main
points.
Fast forward to the twentieth century, and things go wrong the opposite way
round. Whilst in the first half of the century, people learnt their faith in detail,
next people started saying that all you need to know is that God loves you, and
you have to love God and neighbour. Don’t worry about all the rest. Weren’t
the seventies great? The Catholic faith is both ... and, not either ... or. All the
parts need to be there in the jigsaw puzzle, not just the ones at the edge, nor just
the ones in the middle. I think, in terms of passing on the faith, the pendulum
has swung back now more to the centre again, but the Church is still in a bit of
a mess.
Sometimes, when people ask us awkward questions, it can take us back. At
other times, we can be surprised at the solutions that suddenly occur to us.
Some time ago, someone asked me about the concept of blasphemy, thinking it
was all rather silly. In some Muslim countries, it is taken very seriously, and
also abused. An allegation is made that someone disrespected the Koran or the
Muslim prophet Muhammad, and a mob forms, asking, not very politely, for
the alleged perpetrator to be put to death. We don’t have that kind of strict
punishment against blasphemy in the Catholic faith, but the concept is still
there, that we should respect God, the saints, and holy places. So what’s its
modern relevance? Or is it absurd in a supposedly secular society? Well, we
do have in law the concept of respect for others, and if someone writes books
telling serious lies about someone, then it can end up in court. So in the same
way, as Catholics, we want our faith to be treated with respect, and God and
Our Lady too. Of course, later on, Our Lord is put to death for blasphemy, for
claiming to be God.
Which goes to show: you can try to do the best you can to explain the Catholic
faith, but you won’t always succeed. As they say up north, “there’s nowt as
queer as folk”. But we are down south, and here, a certain Fr Traill, who was
himself a convert, overcame opposition to the Catholic faith, and this church is
the end product of what he began. So maybe the advice from Fletch in
Porridge is more apt, modifying slightly what he said: don’t let the so-and-so’s
get you down!