God's law

I refer to the letter by Patricia Mifsud (January 23) replying to Anita Kilbride-Jones's letter. I admit I did not read Ms Kilbride-Jones's letter and so my reply only concerns the letter by Mrs Mifsud.

Notwithstanding her good intentions, Mrs Mifsud's letter falls short of the right understanding and even contradicts itself. I will try to answer in a very concise way.

Jesus (peace be upon him) came not to change the law but to perfect it. By perfecting the law it does not mean he was going to add or decrease any word or letter from the law as that would have put him in a contradictory situation.

Mrs Mifsud is wrong to say that obeying the Ten Commandments makes one a very good Jew but not a Christian. I do not believe, either, that the Church approves of her statement because, like her, I was taught the Ten Commandments when learning the catechism as a child. I do not believe we learned the Ten Commandments as part of Jewish history.

This is absolutely wrong! The law of God is the one law for eternity. Jesus was a Jew and he came for the Jews. The question of Christianity does not enter here as we are dealing with Jesus the Jew who came for the Jews. Jesus came to perfect the law of God and put it back in its true perspective. The Pharisees and the Scribes and the Priests had added to the law in such a way that they had put unnecessary burden on the people. Jesus came to correct that malady and teach the true law of God again.

Therefore, if we claim to be real followers of Jesus then, obviously, we must obey him. Therefore, the law is binding on the followers of Jesus too and the question of Jew/Christian does not enter.

There is another pitfall in Mrs Mifsud's argument. She wrote: Regarding Sunday trading, should the law change and it becomes the norm, she is always free not to do her shopping on a Sunday if she finds it so objectionable. Practising Catholics who live in countries where divorce or abortion or euthanasia are available do not resort to them although they are available.

Now here lies the danger! Mrs Mifsud seems to have chosen the easiest way out but definitely not the right way. It would have been very easy for Jesus to do the same thing, pass by the money-changers and continue on his way to the temple. What Mrs Mifsud is suggesting is, unfortunately, the malady of our society - western Christian society. If we do not attack these things in the bud, then they will grow and engulf us all. The result would be - detachment from the law and that means paganism. Many are those who wrongly claim that times change and we must change as well. But we must be very careful: The law does not change.

This is simple reasoning, a power we humans are endowed with because God gifted us with it. We must use it, we must learn and develop intellectually, materially, economically, scientifically, etc, but the law has to remain intact. The law does not change, not even one iota! We must protest and do our utmost to protect our spiritual values. But alas! We have chosen to live the philosophy of the dumb - we look and see not; we listen and hear not; we speak but fail to talk.