The Old Law and the New Law
God gave us his Law in two ways. The first way was called the Old Law, which God gave to the Israelites through Moses at around 1400 B.C. Hence, it is also called the Law of Moses. The second way was called the New Law, which God gave to us through Jesus, God’s only begotten Son. Hence, it is also called the Law of Jesus Christ.
The Old Law is summed up in the Ten Commandments. It reminds us that we are all created in the image of God, and therefore we should not do what is evil in God’s eyes. However, the Old Law is far from perfect because even though it tells us what we should do and what we shouldn’t do, it does not give us the grace of the Holy Spirit to do it. It remains merely a set of rules.
On the other hand, the New Law is the Law of the Gospel. It makes the Old Law perfect. How does that happen? Sometimes when we want to make something perfect, we try to add nice things to it. At other times, we try to make it look prettier. But the New Law makes the Old Law perfect, not by adding more rules to it or making the old rules look prettier, but by making it much more meaningful. And it does that by changing what is inside our hearts. The New Law makes us want to change to be better persons.
For example, the Old Law tells us to honor our father and mother. On the other hand, the New Law tells us to love our father and mother not because we have to, but because we know it is the right thing to do. And we want to do the right thing not only because we love our parents, but also because we love God and it makes God happy if we love our parents.
The New Law, also known as the Law of the Gospel, fulfills the Old Law. In other words, the New Law refines, surpasses and perfects the Old Law. It is the Law of Christ and the Law of Charity. The source of the power of the New Law is the grace of the Holy Spirit which comes to us through faith in Christ. Instead of abolishing the Old Law, the New Law releases the potential of the Old Law by revealing its divine and human truth. It works through charity and makes use of the sacraments to give us the grace to accomplish it. The New Law perfects the Old Law by reforming the heart – which is the root of human acts – to choose what is pure and to imitate the perfection of God, to forgive our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us, and to grow in the virtues of faith, hope and charity. This New Law is summarized in the command of Jesus that we are to love one another as he has loved us.
On February 2-3, 2019, please welcome Ms. Chih-Li Ying and Ms. Yvonne Chow who will present a seminar on evangelization. The main theme for this seminar is “Celebrate Chinese New Year with the Lord.”
Students from Notre Dame Academy is having a bake sale after Mass today. The purpose of this bake sale is to benefit the Aflac Cancer Center. They will be selling packaged snacks, cookies, banana bread, etc. Please buy a snack or two.
If you donated at least $100 to the Holy Name of Jesus Chinese Catholic Mission in 2018, your Contribution Statement is now ready. Please pickup yours today at the front entrance of the church.
Father Bill will be out of town for three days from January 28 to 30, therefore there will be no noon Mass from Monday to Wednesday. Noon Mass will resume on Friday, February 1.
The next Pastoral Council and Finance Council meeting will be on Sunday, February 10. Pastoral Council meets at 12:30 pm and Finance Council meets at 1:30 pm.