Challenges for the new academic year

We have just gone through that time of liturgical year when the daily Gospel readings from St. Matthew are replete with Jesus's critique of the scribes and Pharisees--"Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees...!" Yesterday's Gospel for the twenty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time from St. Mark was a climax for this series of admonition to the lawyers of his time. Jesus calls them hypocrites and accuses them of disregarding and defiling God's commandment. The source of this defilement, he says, is not from outside the person but from within. He strongly rebukes the legal profession of his time. But for those of us who might wonder if there is hope for lawyers, regardless of the era in which they live, the first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy provides some valuable insight into what God asks of us through His commandments. If we allow ourselves to be open to God's intelligence and wisdom, human governance and the law that is made and applied under it can make the human family and its nations great. Moreover, if we lawyers are free for God's intelligence and wisdom, think of the benefits that can be derived for those whom we encounter. Some of them may be skeptical and others may be quite critical of such a project. But, there may well be those who see that there is something beyond the present moment and the political caprice of the day. As we begin a new academic year, we might consider how the lessons from these passages of sacred scripture might make us not only better teachers but more effective ministers of God's justice in this world. RJA sj