The article begins with an example of a driver realizing he was going in the wrong direction decided to make a u-turn knowing it was against the law, only to be suddenly confronted by a police officer who gave him a ticket. The officer asked him: "Why did you do it? Did you not know this was not to be done?" "I didn't think a police officer was around."
This is how the law is often seen. Not as something to be followed freely and positively, rather, afraid of the consequences and followed passively. Consequently, when it comes to law it is not the maximum but the minimum.
The reality in many cases, not even the minimum is done. Keepers of the law are truly exceptional people. We live in a world with lawlessness and lawbreakers. Those in the legal world know how to get around the law, journalists often twist the truth, the wealthy steal, and the best-educated seem to lack good sense.
Jesus did not stop with being just but went beyond. We have the story of the young man who kept all the commandments from an early age and lived honestly. Jesus looked upon him with great affection and told him to sell all, give the money to the poor, and follow him (Mark 10:21). Don't stay with the minimum but aim for the maximum. Always strive for the greater. The young man found this too difficult and went away sad. Jesus is asking us to strive for the maximum (Matt. 5:48).
Christians are not those who keep the laws but who live as if without law, going beyond the dictates of the law. It is not only living without sin but becoming saints. Not done by force and sacrifice but out of love, positively, it is not falling into darkness but going towards the light. Not doing dong just a part but all.
We are introduced to St. Joseph. "He was a just man unwilling to expose Mary to the law, decided to divorce her quietly." The angel of the Lord appeared to him: "Have no fear about taking Mary as your wife. It is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived this child." It was not divorce nor closing one's eye to the situation it was not either-or but to save Mary, Jesus, Joseph, and all of us. Joseph was invited to do the maximum. It was not the justice of the law but the justice of God's kingdom —God with us, Emanuel.
In this world, we are faced with choosing between alternatives. Will it be the convenience store owner or part-time workers, the owner of the house or the renter, the older generation or the younger generation, male or female, mother or fetus? We are forced to select one. Again we are asked to do the minimum and not the maximum. Our worldly values do not allow us to embrace both but to select one of two. Consequently, we have the two sides fighting each other.
We need to show how we can choose both. The justice of a Christian is always directed to the maximum and not the minimum. An example is a case with the abortion issue. It's not selecting between the fetus or the mother but allowing both to live. Permitting this to happen requires laws provisions and systems in society to change.
The writer suggests a 'Holy Family Life Movement' for efforts in this area. We have had the movement against abortion which has tried to uphold life, but the desire for punishment for those who have had abortions is also present. The example of St. Joseph was not to select between alternatives. Using the right words are very important in matters of this type. Is this not the way of respecting all of life and embracing and seeing the whole world as a Holy Family? Indeed the church is in the world but there is enough room in the church to contain the whole world.
