Day 40: Laws of Justice

Exodus 22:1-15 These verses all describe sins against the Seventh Commandment. Any form of cheating or dishonesty is an injustice that deprives a person of his or her private property and, therefore, constitutes stealing. (CCC 2408, 2545)


Ch 22:16-17 The custom of the father of the groom giving money to the bride’s father, called a mohar, was not a purchase of the bride but rather a form of restitution for the loss of the daughter. Oppression of foreigners and widows are among the sins that cry to heaven. (CCC 1867, 2361, 2394-2396)


SEXUAL TEMPTATIONS ARE NEARLY INEVITABLE for every human person. The temptation in itself IS NOT SINFUL, but the deliberate choice to entertain lustful thoughts or desires or to act upon them IS SINFUL. Everyone is called to chastity, whether single or married. Sexual expression is ordered to marital love, in which the physical intimacy serves as a sign of permanent fidelity and spiritual communion. The use of artificial contraception of any kind is seriously sinful since every marital act must be open to life. Therefore, marital infidelity, divorce and remarriage, incest, and cohabitation are among some of the offenses against the sacredness of marriage. 


Leviticus 15:1-33 Laws in this chapter cover the ritual impurities associated with discharges of the male and female reproductive systems. One miracle in the Gospels concerned a woman with a  longstanding hemorrhage who was healed by touching the fringe of Christ’s garment (cf, Mt 9:20-22, Mk 5:25-34). (CCC 2616)


Psalm 76 Judah and Israel are mentioned interchangeably in this psalm, referring not to the separate kingdoms but to the whole body of the Chosen People. All the people of Israel were united especially in their divine worship in the Temple of Jerusalem. God also revealed himself to the Gentile nations through his mighty works and his punishment of the enemies of Israel. The Jewish nation was the vehicle for the advent of the Messiah who would bring the whole human race to salvation. 

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)



         The second kind would be semen

               The second kind would be discharge from a venereal disease (STD)


Prayer by Fr Mike: "Father in Heaven, we give you thanks. Thank you so much for your Word. Thank you for sharing with us your Heart. Even in your law, which can seem so distant to us, can seem so dry, so other worldly, and even so confusing, we thank you because it reveals your Heart. We ask that you please continue to reveal your heart to us as we reveal our hearts to you. You are the Lord and we are yours. Help us to be yours more and more every day. We make this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen."

ANDREW'S PARALLELS

God gives his law on the Mt. Sinai that brings restitution to those victim of another's trangression. It brings to mind the Eight Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount, when Christ climbed the mountain and gave the New Law that brings eternal restitution from God the Father.

The ordinance of a woman's discharge of blood, separate from her natural menstration, made her and anything she touched unclean. This is what the woman with the hemorrhage from the Gospels had to suffer for TWELVE YEARS- being unclean along with anything she touched... until she touched the garments of Christ and was immediately made clean.