Latest / The Catholic Current / LTACL: Law that Listens? (Fr. Robert McTeigue, S.J.)

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LTACL: Law that Listens? (Fr. Robert McTeigue, S.J.) · The Catholic Current

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  This really happened to me. What do you think? When I was a student,
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  I would drive from my parents' house up in New Jersey down to my school
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  in Washington, D.C. I'd go down the New Jersey Turnpike,
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  cross over the Delaware Bridge, and as soon as I got into Maryland, I'd see
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  a series of signs in rapid succession. It would say,
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  save lives, drive 55s.
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  Next sign, save gas, drive 55.
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  Third sign, save money, drive 55.
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  Next sign, big letters, Maryland fines start at
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  $500. In other words, they really wanted you
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  to drive 55 miles an hour and no more.
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  Well, what do you make of that? Well, it's a law, and there are
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  people with badges and guns to enforce the law. But why 55?
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  Why not 54? Why not 56? Why not 57? Why not 65?
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  There was really nothing to stop them from changing the speed
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  limit. And why a $500 fine? Why not $499?
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  Why not $501? Why not $1 million? Those were all
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  arbitrary. They were rooted in human
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  will alone. Now, some people think that
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  all of law is like that, which is a problem. But what concerns
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  me today is some people think all of church
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  law is like that. Are they right?
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  Stay with me, I've got a story to tell. Hi, I'm Jesuit Father Robert McTeague,
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  your host every day of The Catholic Current, coming to you from the Station of
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  the Cross Catholic Media Network. Let's take a closer look. Glad you're
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  here. I've been thinking about law recently because there have been some synodal
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  reports coming out of Rome, and recently in Rome there
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  was a meeting marking the 10th anniversary of Amoris Laetitia, and they
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  talked a lot about law, changing the law
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  regarding marriage, having a gradual application of
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  the law for people who found being lawful really hard, etc.
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  There was even an essay I read called Law That Listens, as if
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  that were a very great thing. And, you know, I suppose it can be.
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  If you were taking a customer satisfaction survey,
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  you know, you could get to the point where you say, you spoke, we listened.
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  You know, we're going to have extra pepperoni on our
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  pizza because that's what you want. And some church
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  law might be like that.
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  What time we're going to have the first Mass on Sunday
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  in this diocese, for example. That's, that's a human law,
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  and you can adjust it in light of customer satisfaction
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  and demands. But some laws aren't just arbitrary
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  laws rooted in human will. Some of them are laws of nature.
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  For example, when I was in high school, there was a very popular
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  poster and it showed Albert Einstein dressed
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  as a traffic cop and he's wagging his finger and he says,
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  186,000 miles per second. It's not just a
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  good idea, it's the law. Of course, he was referring to the speed of light.
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  The speed of light doesn't care if you like it or not, but there are
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  consequences if you try to break it. And then there are other
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  types of law that are really Divine law. For example,
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  uh, go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
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  the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
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  That's what God said, and it's
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  not optional. And whether we do it or we don't,
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  there will be consequences— good consequences if
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  we do it, bad consequences if we don't. That's not up
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  to us. It's up to us whether or not we conform to that law,
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  but that law cannot be subject to change. So when it comes to divine
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  law and when it comes to natural law, all the listening in the
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  world, all the testimonies of lived experience in the world can't,
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  can't change natural law or divine
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  law. You conform to those laws or you don't, and you face
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  the consequences. And church law needs to live
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  in light of those truths. So when we talk about listening and
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  law that listens and lived experience, et cetera, et cetera, we need to be
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  really clear that that only applies
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  to human law, not to
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  natural law, and not divine law. And I'm going to wait
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  and see, but it seems to me that a lot of people,
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  especially senior Catholic cadres of the people who should really know better
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  club, think that all law is merely
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  human law. And if you listen hard enough and treat
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  the dialogue as a customer satisfaction survey, you can meet people
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  where they are and increase customer satisfaction, and we'll all
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  live happily ever after. And then we'll sanctify it by saying
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  the Spirit has spoken. Well,
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  maybe, maybe,
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  but only for human law, not for
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  natural law, not for divine law.
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  So we'll have to wait and see what these brain trusts come up with.
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  And if they're talking about changing natural law or divine
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  law, well, seems to me that
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  would be a crisis. But let's wait and see what they have to say.
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  Meanwhile, think on these things today, take them to prayer, and talk about
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  it with those you love. Go in peace, and please do pray for me,
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  for I am a sinner.