A Law That Leads to Life
Sometimes we talk about the Old Testament and the New Testament as though they reveal two different Gods.
The God of the Old Testament gets characterized as angry and demanding, while Jesus in the New Testament is presented as loving and merciful.
But Scripture does not give us that division.
There is tenderness, mercy, forgiveness, and love throughout the Old Testament. There is also justice in both the Old and New.
And running throughout Scripture is God’s law.
The Hebrew word Torah is often translated as “law,” but it also carries the sense of teaching or instruction. That distinction matters.
We tend to hear the word law and think of restrictions imposed on us. Something telling us what we cannot do.
But God’s law is different.
It is instruction for life.
It teaches us how to live so that we can flourish. It teaches us how to love. It leads us toward light and joy.
If I want life, if I want to know how to love well, if I want to find true joy, then God’s teaching is not something standing in my way.
It shows me the way.
Do Not Forget
Moses gives Israel an important warning in Deuteronomy.
Be careful not to forget what God has done.
Do not let it slip from your memory.
And then comes the responsibility that follows remembering: teach it to your children and your children’s children.
This becomes one of Israel’s great struggles throughout the Old Testament.
One generation encounters God, witnesses His faithfulness, and learns His ways. But somewhere along the way, what they have received is not fully passed on.
Then another generation grows up that does not know what the generation before it knew.
That should make us stop and think.
How well are we passing on what we have received?
Not only to friends or people at church, but within our own families?
Parents have an obvious responsibility here. But Scripture even extends the vision to our children’s children.
Grandparents matter, too.
Of course, grandparents are not the parents of their grandchildren. There are boundaries to respect. But they still have a beautiful responsibility and opportunity to hand on the faith through their example, their stories, their prayer, and the way they live.
Faith is meant to move from generation to generation.
Jesus Fulfills the Law
Then Jesus says something important in the Gospel:
He has not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets.
He has come to fulfill them.
Jesus is not opposed to what God revealed before Him. He is the fulfillment of it.
The God who gives the law in the Old Testament is the same Father, Son, and Holy Spirit we worship now.
Jesus shows us what God’s law looks like when it is lived perfectly.
Not legalism.
Not following rules simply for the sake of rules.
But love.
God’s teaching leads us toward love of Him and love of one another. It leads toward life and joy.
And that changes the question.
Instead of asking, How little do I have to do?
We can ask, Lord, how are You teaching me to live?
For Moms
For mothers, the line from Deuteronomy may be the one that lands closest to home:
Do not forget. Teach your children.
Passing on the faith rarely happens through one perfect conversation.
It happens through hundreds of ordinary moments.
It is making Mass a priority even when Sunday morning is chaotic.
It is letting your children see you pray.
It is answering questions when you can and being willing to say, “I don’t know, but let’s find out.”
It is talking about why your family believes what it believes instead of assuming your children will somehow absorb it.
It is telling them what God has done in your own life.
Our children need more than instructions about Catholicism.
They need a living memory of faith.
They need to hear what we have seen, what we have learned, where God has been faithful, and why His way is worth following.
And someday, God willing, what we hand to our children will become something they hand to theirs.
Questions to Sit With
- Do I tend to experience God’s teaching as a restriction, or as guidance toward life, love, and joy?
- What has God taught or shown me that I especially want my children to remember?
- Am I intentionally passing on the faith, or am I assuming my children will pick it up on their own?
Family Practice
Tell your children one faith story from your own life this week.
It does not need to be dramatic. Share a time you knew God was helping you, a prayer that mattered to you, something your own parents or grandparents taught you, or a moment when your faith helped you make a decision.
Passing on the faith begins by remembering what we ourselves have received.