The Law of Israel

Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies

Bishop Robert Barron

Spirituality, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality:christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 4.6K Ratings

🗓️ 21 October 2020

⏱️ 15 minutes

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Summary

A careful reading of the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament, reveals that Israelite identity was determined through three sets of laws: liturgical, ritual, and moral. In Catholicism, the liturgical laws have been sublimated and the ritual laws largely set aside. But what about the moral law? In this case, Thomas Aquinas says, they remain unchanged, for they represent the first principles of the natural law—which is to say, those fundamental instincts that undergird all moral reasoning. In our first reading this week from Exodus, we hear wonderful precepts that continue to this day to shape the moral consciousness of the world.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Friends, welcome to Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. Word on Fire is an
0:05.7	apostolate dedicated to the mission of evangelization using media both old and
0:11.8	new to share the faith on every continent and to facilitate an encounter with
0:16.9	Christ and His Church. The efforts of Word on Fire engage the culture and bring
0:22.2	the transformative power of God's Word where it is most needed. Today we invite
0:28.3	you to join Bishop Robert Barron as he preaches the gospel and shares the
0:32.8	warmth and light of Christ with each one of us.
0:39.3	Peace be with you. Friends, our first reading contains a wonderful little passage
0:44.0	on the moral law that God gave to Israel. If you look through the Torah, the first
0:49.2	five books of the Old Testament, you'll find that Israel is a people structure
0:55.0	according to law. And you might say three types of law. God gives liturgical law,
1:02.6	ritual law, and moral law to Israel. They are to worship Him properly. They are to
1:11.1	live in a ritually pure way and they are to be morally upright. In those three
1:17.0	ways they become God's holy people. You know, look in the book of Leviticus, for
1:21.8	example, you see page upon page about ritual purity. You find the moral law
1:26.8	kind of sprinkle throughout, but a lot in Exodus, a lot in Deuteronomy.
1:30.6	Liturgical law too, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, all have liturgical laws. Thomas
1:38.2	Aquinas, by the way, he was really interested in this issue. Look in Thomas Summuthelogia,
1:43.2	he's really interested in these legal precepts of the Old Testament. He calls
1:49.0	him in this typically pithy way, the ceremonial, juridical, and moral precepts of the Old
1:57.0	Law. So I want to look a little bit at these three because our reading has to do with
2:02.8	the moral law, but you've got to situate that within the context of the other two. So
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