No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts;
you have only to carry it out. (Deuteronomy 30:14)
July 15, 2025
Hello Everyone –
Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, there is an inseparable connection between the observance of God’s law and a peace-filled, harmonious life. But how can we observe the law if we do not know the law? It is exactly in this context that we come to understand the need and value of study and ongoing discussion about God’s law.
The danger in all of this, however, comes when we reduce the whole matter to a bunch of external movements or a legalistic mindset, i.e. studying the law to learn its prescriptions and simply doing them blindly rather than appreciating or meditating upon real, underlying values. We may have been told growing up: “Do it because I said so,” not “Do it because it is good and right, and this is why”; or “Don’t do this because it is a sin,” not “Don’t do this because it is destructive or hurtful, and this is how.”
It is exactly this issue that comes to the forefront in the wonderful exchange that takes place between Jesus and the scholar of the law recounted in the gospel we heard last Sunday (cf. Luke 10:25-37). Down deep I believe that people want to know and understand the law so they can live it and subsequently enjoy God’s blessings and be at peace.
It appears evident that the scholar in Luke’s text is searching for a deeper meaning of the law. This is made clear when he states that one is not only to the love God with one’s heart and being — but also “with all your strength and with all your mind.” There is a realization here that it is not only about knowing the rules, but about appropriating values in relationship with God, their living source. To study the law provides an opportunity to converse with the Lord, with mind, heart, and soul fully engaged in the search for what is right and good. To meditate upon the law is a means to be in communion with God.
Jesus underscores this point when asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answers with two questions of his own. “What is written in the law?” and “How do you read it?” They can sound like the same question — but their emphases are different — first, what is there? — and second, what do you read there? What do you see or get out of it? How do you understand or interpret it?
The law of God does not merely impose an outward submission to certain “do’s and don’ts.” Rather, it is a principle of life that calls forth an inward response at the very depths of our being. The word comes to life in our reading of it — a dynamic conversation with the living God who animates good moral decisions.
Perhaps a brief morning prayer will aid in shaping our conscious actions throughout the day...
God, give me the courage of my conviction this day
that you are alive and well in me.
Help me not to waver.
Help me not to procrastinate.
Help me not to rationalize.
Help me not to play games with myself.
Help me to stand strong in You,
Help me not just to give what I have,
but to give who You are within me. Amen.
As I do for you, please pray for me,
Most Reverend Jeffrey S. Grob
Archbishop of Milwaukee
Subscribe to The Branches