When I hear adolescents talking about the Catholic faith they frequently make reference to "the Rules." I am not really sure what they are! Yet, some people becomes engrossed and even repelled by the laws of the Church. However, the best anology I have for church law is that of the road code. It takes study and attention at the time you learn to drive but once you have your license they fade into the background. There purpose is achieved when all road users travel safely to their destination. It is the same for us as Catholics. The Canon Law, GIRM (liturgical law) and other rules can be complex however once we have a working knowledge of them it makes our worship, goverance and prayer easier and less prone to the equivalent of road accidents. Saint Paul, in his letter ot the Galatians, uses the analogy for the law of the guardian who escort the children on their way to school. The reality of our faith, as we hear in the Second Reading is always greater than any set of laws or rules: "But we speak God's wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory." (1 Cor. 2: 7) The last canon of the 1983 Code of Canon Law says it well when it states: "canonical equity is to be observed, and the salvation of souls, which must always be the supreme law in the Church, is to be kept before one’s eyes." (c. 1752)
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