True Love
“My mother is sick; my free time is given over completely to her. Most of my weekends I could not attend the Mass or Pray. Have I committed sin?”
It is very common for us to ask such questions. Many a time, we confuse between law and morality. Morality transcends law. It involves more than following laws. It brings into consideration the entire situation of the problem at hand.
It is God’s desire that we all live a good life. If any of our actions are likely to add to the well-being of some one – helping them to live a good life – then it should be encouraged. God will never demand anything that is contrary to human well-being. Any religion that doesn’t subscribe to the welfare of its followers and give utmost importance to its own laws, reduces itself to a system of laws and legalities, rules and regulations, doctrines and dogmas.
In the Gospel, Jesus abhors rigid religious practices which do not allow people to live their lives like free children of God. Jesus quoting the words of Isaiah describes people who follow rigid laws and regulations, “Their reverence of me [God] is worthless, the lessons they teach are nothing but human commandments.” Jesus teaches all of us how to live our religion in a joyful way.
No law, state, or church is absolute. Only the law of God is absolute. True love is the ultimate criterion of all our moral actions and that is the law and the Will of God.
True commitment to God finds ways to expresses one’s faith to God in many and different ways. Where there is love there is God.
–Fr. Ranjan D’Sa OCD