So for those of us who were fortunate enough to go to a Catholic Elementary school, we all know the benefits and the not so beneficial aspects of being in Catholic school in the 1960s and 1970s. First of all, let me say that we got a great education and were taught by both religious and lay teachers who were very dedicated to guiding young people. I am so thankful that my parents sacrificed to send us to Our Lady of Mt Carmel in Jersey City, NJ. Of course, being the brat that I was, I never expressed that gratitude to them. After all, life was all about me!! It was at Mt Carmel that I learned the basics of the faith that has guided me over my lifetime.
OK. But let’s also be realistic. The nuns, as we all know, we not always saints. Yes, we gave them a hard time. Gave them some awful nicknames. But they were tough. This is not just an old wife’s tale. God forbid Sister Marie caught us dropping a book on the floor. Or got caught passing around notes. Or not getting homework done. I remember arguing about fractions with Sister Mary Rose. I swore that 1/8th was larger than 1/2 because 8 was bigger than 2! I know. How did I ever get into veterinary school?! But she kind of ridiculed me in front of the class. Then there were the SRA reading program where we got rewards for reading a certain amount. And competing against others in the class. I admit that I was a bit ruthless in trying to make top reader. And don’t get me started with having to go to Mass every day!
Now where is all this going? My point is that when we were young students and young Catholics, we needed structure. Left to our own devices we would have been up on the roof of the school turning the American Flag upside down on the flagpole. Now who would have done that? It was actually my younger brother and his best friend. But the thing is, there is no way we would have succeeded in our studies, nor would we have gained a preliminary understanding of our faith unless we were held to certain basic rules that were were required to abide by.
Paul is saying as much to the Galatians when he speaks to them about the law. The Law is defined as a series of laws or rules, 613 to be exact, that every Jew in Jesus’ time knew. And it was the job of the Pharisees to make sure that every Jew knew the Law. There were rules that dictated how they were to eat. How they were to dress. What happens when one person wrongs another. And laws dictating how to worship. Who and what was considered to be “clean” and rituals to achieve that sense of cleanliness. There was little room for freedom or free will. And if you disobeyed these Laws? Well, you were often kicked out of the temple or synagogue and, therefore, an outcast. Receiving little support from the community. There was no understanding of God’s mercy and love. Faith was not a thing before Jesus came. You either were a good Jew because you followed the law, or you were not.
But that all changed with Christ’s incarnation. We are not surrounded by walls, that was the law, whose rigidity left little room for love, mercy, forgiveness, acceptance of people who were not necessarily like you. As Paul told the Galatians:
But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a disciplinarian.
For through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus.
For all of you who were baptized into Christ
have clothed yourselves with Christ.
The Law was our elementary school. Preparing us for the time when we would be free to follow Christ…or not. When we would be guided by the Spirit of Christ within us, through our Baptism. The New Law…the New Covenant…loving God and loving each other. Working to will the good of another. More freedom than when under the Law. But also more responsibility. As we moved on to high school, and then college, many of those rules we were forced to follow, gradually eased up. No one was looking over our shoulders making sure that we went to Mass. We were not ridiculed by college professors in class if we didn’t do our assignments. It was the consequences of our actions that became our actual teachers. We had only our consciences to direct us. We had to WANT to get good grades for the sake of where those grades would take us. And our faith? Maybe it was easier to drift away. That is true. And many did leave the Church once Mom and Dad could no longer enforce whether we worshipped or not. But for those who stayed on the path. On the narrow road. It has become a real faith. A real relationship with Christ and His Father. A faith that no wall, no set of laws, could recreate.
