November 6, 2012 Martin Mallon (Ireland) Martin's previous articles
THE
LAW OF LOVE
In
his article on The Law of Love, Scott Hahn writes that “Love
is the only law we are to live by.”
Who could disagree as Jesus,
when asked in the Gospel of
“The
first is, ‘Hear, O
Here
Jesus gives the Law of Love primacy by stating these are the greatest
commandments and he then reinforces his argument by saying “There
is no other commandment greater than these.”
Where
does this leave the institutional Church? Clearly it is more important to obey
this Law of Love than to obey the Church. Yes, Church teaching is useful for
guidance, but Jesus puts the Law of Love above Church teaching and we can see
this in the
Second Vatican Council document on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et
Spes, which in Section 16, as stated in my
article of 9 October 2012, beautifully points out that God has written the
divine law in our hearts and conscience reveals that law:
In
the depths of his conscience, man detects a law which he does not impose upon
himself, but which holds him to obedience. Always summoning him to love good and
avoid evil, the voice of conscience when necessary speaks to his heart: do this,
shun that. For man has in his heart a law written by God; to obey it is the very
dignity of man; according to it he will be judged. Conscience is the most secret
core and sanctuary of a man. There he is alone with God, Whose voice echoes in
his depths. In a wonderful manner conscience reveals that law which is fulfilled
by love of God and neighbor…
This
last sentence emphasises our point precisely: “In
a wonderful manner conscience reveals that law which is fulfilled by love of God
and neighbor.”
Here
we have it in black and white; Jesus tells us that the Law of Love is the most
important commandment and “There
is no other commandment greater than these.”
The
most authoritative Church teaching we have, that of an Ecumenical Council, tells
us that this Law of Love is revealed to us by our consciences “In
a wonderful manner conscience reveals that law which is fulfilled by love of God
and neighbor.”
Hence, “In
a wonderful manner” conscience rules.
Primacy
of Conscience, or the Law of Love, over any Church teaching or canon law would
appear to be the logical conclusion from the above. Unfortunately, Scott Hahn,
in his interesting article, did not explore the relation of the Law of Love to
Church teaching.
Scott Hahn’s article can be found here