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Vigils Reading – 22nd Sunday
September 1
THE ESSENCE OF THE LAW
From a commentary by St Irenaeus1
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The Pharisees claimed that the traditions of their elders safeguarded the
Law, but in fact it contravened the Law that Moses had given. By saying: Your
merchants mix water with wine Isaiah shows that the elders mixed their watery
tradition with God’s strict commandment. In other words, they enjoined an
adulterated law which went against the Law, as the Lord also made clear when
he asked them: Why do you transgress God’s commandment for the sake of your
tradition?
By their transgression they not only falsified God’s Law, called to this day
the Pharisaic law. In this their rabbis suppress some of the commandments, add
new ones, and give others their own interpretation, thus making the law serve
their own purposes.
Their desire to justify these traditions kept them from submitting to God’s
Law that taught them about the coming of Christ. Instead, they even found fault
with the Lord for healing on the Sabbath, which was not forbidden by the Law,
for in a sense the Law itself healed by causing circumcision to be performed on
the Sabbath. On the other hand, they found no fault with themselves for
breaking God’s commandment by their tradition and the Pharisaic law just
mentioned, or by lacking the essence of the Law, which is love for God.
That this is the first and greatest commandment, the second being love of
our neighbor, the Lord taught by saying that the whole of the Law and the
prophets depend on these two commandments. He himself taught no greater
commandment than this, but he renewed this same commandment by bidding
his disciples love God with their whole heart, and their neighbor as themselves.3
Paul also says that love is the fulfillment of the Law. When all other
charisms fail, faith, hope and love remain, but the greatest of all is love.
Knowledge is of no avail without the love of God, nor is understanding of
mysteries, faith or prophecy. Without love all are vain and pointless. Love on
the other hand perfects a person, and one who loves God is perfect both in this
world and in the next, for we shall never stop loving God – the longer we gaze
upon Him the more our love for Him will grow.