ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Dear Friends in our Lord Jesus Christ,

The Gospel of Saint Matthew presents to us today Jesus in his role as Teacher. Large crowds gather around Him, hungry to hear words that will bring truth and meaning to their lives. We see that Our Lord readily accepts this role as Teacher, getting into a boat to provide more room on the shoreline for the growing crowd which has assembled to listen to Him. In this section of Saint Matthew’s Gospel the Divine Teacher begins to instruct the crowds, using parables to explain the Kingdom of Heaven and God’s eternal plan of salvation for all who hear and accept his life-giving words. Indeed, at the end of our Gospel passage today, Jesus encourages his listeners to be attentive to his teaching, to be good students, by urging them : “Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

You gather today as teachers and as students, participants in the Gregorian Colloquium, to listen to, and learn from the Holy Spirit and from one another, as you pursue a deeper understanding of God’s life-giving law, particularly as it is reflected in the life, law and canonical tradition of the Church. As you do so you are conscious that in a certain sense you are all teachers, but at the same time learners, seekers of truth and knowledge like the crowds in the Gospel. Like them you come to hear Jesus who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, present in Word and Sacrament in this Eucharist which we all celebrate together.

As you reflect on the law of the Church you are reminded by Saint Paul, whose life and writings we commemorate in a particular way during this Pauline year: “For Christ is the end of the law, that every one who has faith may be justified” (Rom 10:4).

Also, in its treatment of the role of law and grace in the life of the Christian the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us:
“The moral law finds its fullness and its unity in Christ. Jesus Christ is in person the way of perfection. He is the end of the law, for only he teaches and bestows the justice of God (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1953).

In our first scriptural reading of today’s Mass we heard the words of the book of the Prophet Jeremiah reminding us of the prophetic task of all teachers to teach and proclaim God’s perennial truth to those who hunger for truth and meaning in their lives. This is never an easy task, nor one without its unique challenges and sacrifices, but it is one that is a special gift and vocation from the Lord Himself. Does not God Himself remind the wavering Jeremiah that it is He who appointed the prophet to carry out his mission of teaching and speaking the truth in God’s name. Significantly, He also reminds Jeremiah that he is not alone in his teaching and prophetic mission. Despite Jeremiah’s doubts and fears concerning his human inadequacy for the prophetic task, the Lord assures him: “Have no fear...because I am with you.”

In a particular way Jesus assures us today that He is with us in the Church, especially in the Eucharist—His living, and life-giving, presence among us as we carry out our individual vocation and mission in His name and through the Church.

The task of teaching and studying the law is a special vocation within the ecclesial community and contributes in a unique way to the life and mission of the Church herself. Centuries ago Tertullian, the early Christian apologist, spoke of the role of the law in the divine plan, writing: “Alone among all animate beings, man can boast of having been worthy to receive a law from God: ... endowed with reason, capable of understanding and discernment, he is to govern his conduct by using his freedom and reason, in obedience to the One who has entrusted everything to him” (Tertullian, ADV. Marcion, 2, 4:PL 2, 288-289).

The great task of the canonists of the Church at the beginning of this third millennium of Christianity is to continue to integrate the teachings and the pastoral insights of the Second Vatican Council into the jurisprudence and pastoral practice of the Church. Was this not the hope and intention of Pope John Paul II, expressed in the Apostolic Constitution Sacrae Disciplinae Leges, when he promulgated the Latin Code on January 25, 1983? It is helpful to recall his words as we seek guideposts for our ongoing study and development of the law of the Church. The Holy Father wrote then: “The instrument which the Code is fully corresponds to the nature of the Church, especially as it is proposed by the teaching of the Second Vatican Council in general and in a particular way by its ecclesiological teaching. Indeed, in a certain sense this new Code could be understood as a great effort to translate this same conciliar doctrine and ecclesiology into canonical language. If, however, it is impossible to translate perfectly into canonical language the conciliar image of the Church, nevertheless the Code must always be referred to this image as the primary pattern whose outline the Code ought to express insofar as it can by its very nature” (John Paul II, Sacrae Disciplinae Leges, January 25, 1983).

Perhaps the Code of Canon Law itself expresses this in an even more succinct and yet profound manner, in its final canon by stating: “... the salvation of souls, which must always be the supreme law in the Church, is to be kept before one’s eyes” (CIC 1983, can. 1752).

Dear canonists, dear friends in Christ Jesus: In her inspired response this morning to the revelation transmitted through the prophet Jeremiah, the Church proclaims a justice that is identified with salvation: “My mouth,” the Psalmist asserts, “shall declare your justice, day by day your salvation.” What is so exhilarating in our ministry is that the proclamation of justice is truly all about salvation; indeed, it is all about Jesus Christ who for all of us has become our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification and our redemption (cf. 1 Cor. 1:30). May your deliberations in the Holy Spirit, your study, your discussions help lead God’s people to Jesus Christ and to salvation in His name. May Mary, Seat of Wisdom and Mother of Incarnate wisdom, sustain you in generosity and zeal. Amen.