“Laws are not masters but servants, and he rules them who obeys them”

"Law is twofold -- natural and written. The natural law is in the heart, the written law on tables. All men are under the natural law." - Saint Ambrose

Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9
Moses spoke to the people and said:
"Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees
which I am teaching you to observe,
that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land
which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees
as the LORD, my God, has commanded me,
that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy.
Observe them carefully,
for thus will you give evidence
of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations,
who will hear of all these statutes and say,
'This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.'
For what great nation is there
that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us
whenever we call upon him?
Or what great nation has statutes and decrees
that are as just as this whole law
which I am setting before you today?

"However, take care and be earnestly on your guard
not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen,
nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live,
but teach them to your children and to your children's children."

We often view God's laws in an adolescent way. We see them as mere prohibitions or burdens. However, His laws are lifesaving insights into life. How many people have proven the truth of God's law by not following it, and thereby turned their lives into experiments that have failed miserably?

Jesus said: "Of this much I assure you: until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter of the law, not the smallest part of a letter, shall be done away with until it all comes true" (Mt 5:18). We also live by the spirit of the law (see 2 Cor 3:6).

If you are a "do-it-yourselfer," Jesus' extreme demands are very disturbing. How can you do it? But if you are like Mary and know that life is "letting it be done" (see Lk 1:38) rather than "doing it yourself," then you are excited to be taken by Jesus into a new dimension of grace, miracles, and mystery. The most important aspects of life, including death, are beyond our merely human capacities. We need Jesus to take us into the realm of the supernatural. Why not start now in living the miraculous grace of our Baptism?

Observe God's law "carefully, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations, who will hear of all these statutes and say, 'This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people' " (Dt 4:6).

Let Jesus do the impossible in you!