The Law of the Lord is Good (A School Mass)

Good morning.

When you think about the word uh rules or laws, what's the first thought that comes to mind for you when you think about rules or laws?

What what comes to your mind when you th when you hear those words?

What do you think?

Like somebody's bossing you around.

Oh, okay.

All right.

Like somebody's bossing you around.

What what else do you think of when you think about rules or laws?

Adult.

You forgot?

Oh, adults.

Oh, okay.

You think about adults when you think about rules or laws, okay.

Could you help me pass down the mic, please?

Sit down there.

To obey the laws and rules.

Okay, to obey the ro the laws and the rules?

Alright.

What else?

I'm gonna go all the way back here.

What do you think?

The police?

The police?

Okay.

Go back here?

The Ten Commandments.

Ooh, the Ten Commandments.

Maybe one or two more all the way in the back.

Cleaning up.

Cleaning up?

Okay.

Cleaning up.

Obeying your parents.

Obeying your parents.

Okay, so all very good uh answers.

So I heard um a lot of different answers, right?

Being bossed around and adults and cleaning your room and Ten Commandments.

All interesting answers.

Now, sometimes uh laws and rules can be like that, right?

Kind of negative.

But sometimes laws and rules can be good, right?

Let me give you an example.

Let's say you are uh you can you're driving a car.

Now, how many of you guys ever drove a car before?

Really?

We need to talk with your parents.

All right.

Now, when somebody drives a car, so there's rules on the road, right?

You have to have like green, you go, red, you stop.

So what happens if there's no rules or laws on the road?

What's gonna happen?

What do you what do you think what do you think is gonna happen if there's no rules or laws on the road?

You're gonna get in jail.

You're gonna get in jail, okay.

Well, there's gonna be car crashes, of course.

Yeah, there's gonna there's gonna be car crashes, right?

There's no laws, no rules.

There's gonna be car crashes.

Okay.

Let me give you another example.

So, how many of you have been watching the uh Olympics?

You know, winter Olympics?

And there's like like skiing, you know, snowboarding?

All right.

So let me give you this example.

What would happen if like somebody's skiing, right?

And you know the answer already?

I haven't even asked the question.

You know, the and and and there's supposed to be guardrails around the mountain, right?

So skiers know that they can ski in this uh area.

What would happen if there were no guardrails on on the mountain, like zero guardrails, just completely open?

What what what what could happen in that case?

All right, what do you think?

You can get hit by snow or anything.

You could hit get hit by the snow, all right.

If there's no guardrails on the mountains, what what could happen to you?

Death.

Death.

Okay.

All right.

So, like somebody could like ski off, right, the mountain.

And that could be injury or, like you said, death.

Okay.

I'll give you one last example.

So that's that's good, right?

So rules of the road is is a good thing to have.

Uh, rules on the the mountain, the ski slope, the guardrails is a good thing to have.

Now, how about in your classroom?

Okay, let's get very specific here.

In your classroom, if there were no rules in your classroom, what would happen?

If there are no rules in your classroom, no laws, what would happen in your class?

Damaged.

Damaged.

All right.

Everybody would just be like doing their own thing and not learning anything.

Not learning.

So it destroys the purpose of school.

Oh, yes, that's right.

Okay.

They would go crazy.

They would go crazy, okay.

You could break your back, maybe.

Okay, all right.

So if there's no rules in the classroom, there's gonna be chaos, right?

Okay.

Now, teachers, uh uh, teachers and our school principal, do you guys agree that it's good to have some rules in the classroom teachers?

Do you agree?

Yeah, I they see them nodding their heads, right?

Okay, like, and Mrs.

Holly's like, yes, very much so.

So we see that sometimes rules and laws are very good, like the rules of the road, the rules on the mountain, rules in the classroom.

Now, Moses says in the first reading that the law of the Lord is good.

How many of you know here the Ten Commandments?

The Ten Commandments.

Okay.

And those ten commandments are the law of the Lord, and they're supposed to be good.

Who can name to me maybe one of the Ten Commandments?

Remember, the law of the Lord is good.

Who can name for me one of the ten commandments?

All right, just one of them.

Honor your mother and father.

Honor your mother and your father.

That's a good law, that's a good rule of the Lord.

And if only raise your hand if you haven't called on you yet, okay?

All right, honor your father, that's very good.

Don't be jealous to your neighbors.

Okay, that's right.

You know what, Cavet, the the goods of your neighbor.

That's another law of the Lord, that's very good.

Be nice to your friends.

Okay, I don't think that's in the Ten Commandments, but that's a good, that's a good one.

That's a really I like that one.

That's a great one.

Um, what else in the Ten Commandments?

Honor one God.

Yeah, right?

Honor the Lord your God with all your heart, right, soul, mind, strength.

What else?

Treat others you want the way you want to be treated.

Okay, that's a great rule, too.

Okay, wonderful.

So these laws of the the Ten Commandments are very good.

So they're not a bad thing.

It's not like being bullied.

It's a good thing for our souls.

Remember what Jesus said in the gospel?

He said, I have not come to abolish the law, but to what?

Fulfill correctly.

Now I'm gonna give you one last law of the Lord.

This is the greatest law in the whole Bible.

What does Jesus say in the gospel?

Who can answer this question?

The most important law in the whole Bible.

Is this in the New Testament?

It's it's the greatest, even higher than the Ten Commandments.

Of course, the Ten Commandments are the law of the Lord, but Jesus says, I've come to fulfill it, and there's something even greater that it goes above all of it.

Who can tell me the greatest, most important law of the Lord?

Okay, let's see what you got loving God more than anything.

Yes, you summarized it very well.

That's very good.

Who can tell me the exact words that Jesus used for the most important law of the Lord?

You want to try?

Can you pass the microphone back?

Love your parents.

Love your parents.

Okay, that's that's a good shot.

All right.

Okay, maybe one or two more, and then I'll give you the answer to the most important law of the Lord, okay?

Do not steal.

Do not steal.

That's a good guess, too.

Alright, let's do the choir, and then I'll give you the answer.

Okay, maybe, okay.

Love God above all things.

Yes, you guys are summarizing it very well.

Okay, Jesus says, greatest law.

Here it is.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

That is the greatest law of the Lord in the whole Bible.

So let's repeat that again so that we know what this law is.

And it's good for us.

This law is good.

You shall love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.

And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

So, can the law be good?

Yes, the law of the Lord is good.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.