St. Anthony of Padua
Slavery was legal in the US for decades. Abortion is still legal in many states. Same-sex “marriage” is legal. So is divorce/remarriage, fornication, and child abandonment. That a moral act is legal does not make it righteous. And perfectly legal acts cannot guarantee righteousness simply b/c they are legal. This implies that there is something greater than the law to follow if righteousness is our goal. Jesus says that our righteousness must surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees and scribes. NB. he doesn't say that the scribes and the Pharisees are unrighteous. They are. According to their own reckoning of the Law. They follow the Law he came to fulfill. What they are missing – potentially – is the internal dispositions that give the Law its eternal effect. That is, the Law serves as an exterior sign that they are committed to God w/o touching who they actually are internally. We might defend this view of the Law by saying something like “well, better to follow the Law hypocritically than not at all!” But this approach can lead to self-righteousness and judgmentalism – the enduring sin of the scribes and Pharisees. Or maybe we could approach the problem by saying “fake it 'til you make it.” Follow the Law externally until you can follow it internally. Obey the 10 Commandments and eventually you'll come love God and neighbor. After all, virtues take time and practice to thrive. That's better but still not good enough b/c death stalks us all and our time to practice may end sooner than we think. Jesus tells his disciples to love first and obedience results. Love first and forgiveness and mercy and everything else we need to grow in righteousness results. The details of the Law “shake out” as we perfect the virtue of willing the Good of the Other. Love of God is perfected by loving His creatures. The more we love God and neighbor, the more we resemble those we love. And the less likely we are to treat Him and his creatures as inconvenient obstacles to getting our way. If pride is the original sin of believing and behaving as if we can become God w/o God, then charity is the original virtue of believing and behaving as if we can only become God with God. Loving God comes first. Then obedience and righteousness. Until obedience and righteousness are no longer necessary.
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