Posted by The WORD in other words (2006) by Frater Samuel Agcaracar SVD – Divine Word Seminary of Tagaytay
Frater Agcaracar was later ordained priest in 2007 and, last January 17 2026 as Bishop of San Jose, Nueva Ecija.
Monday 30th Week in Ordinary Time
Regency is a period of priestly formation during which seminarians are sent for a year of pastoral exposure in SVD parishes, schools, and other apostolates. I had my regency last year in Magsaysay, Oriental Mindoro. It was there that I once experienced the tension between law and love.
One morning, a widow from one of the Mangyan communities came to our parish office. Since our parish priest was away at the time, I attended to her. She told me that she wanted her daughter to be married in the Catholic Church because she believed deeply in the grace and power of the Sacrament of Matrimony. However, because of financial difficulties, she feared that she would not be able to carry out her plans.
At the back of my mind, I began thinking about the other requirements she might be asked to fulfill, apart from the financial responsibilities involved. Yet what struck me most was the sincerity of her desire that her daughter receive the sacrament. Behind all the requirements was a mother sincerely seeking the grace of God for her daughter.
Jesus’ clear preference for charity over a merely legalistic observance of the law, as we see in today’s Gospel, cannot be doubted wherein he healed a crippled woman despite the complaints of leader of the synagogue (Lk 13,10-17). Elsewhere Jesus reminded us: “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27). Also, he reproaches those who concentrate on external observances while neglecting “the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith”(Matthew 23:23).
This does not mean that laws are unnecessary. Rather, Jesus teaches us that the law must always serve its true purpose: to lead people toward God and toward the good of one another. As Saint Paul beautifully puts it, “Love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:10).
However, in the concrete situations of daily life, balancing law and charity is not always easy. Pressures, selfish interests, attachment to authority, and the desire to preserve established ways of doing things can gradually mold us into the kind of Pharisees whom Jesus challenged. We can become so concerned with fulfilling requirements that we fail to see the person standing before us.
In the case of the widow who came asking for help, my status as a regent did not give me the authority to make the necessary decisions. The only thing I could do was encourage her not to abandon her desire and advise her to approach the proper authority who could truly assist her. It pained me to realize that I could not do more.
Yet that experience also taught me something about the significance of priestly ministry. A priest is entrusted not merely with applying laws, but with helping people encounter the mercy and grace of God through the Church. This requires prudence and fidelity, but it also requires compassion. Jesus himself reminds us: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13; cf. Hosea 6:6).
In a broader sense, however, this responsibility belongs not only to ordained ministers but to every Christian. Whether lay or ordained, we are continually challenged to discern how truth, justice, law, and charity can come together in our service to others. This can indeed be a demanding task.
Jesus, however, continually reminds us what must remain at the center. When asked which commandment was the greatest, he answered: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39).
Perhaps this is what my encounter with that widow was teaching me. Behind every rule there is often a person, a story, a struggle, and a longing for God. Christian ministry therefore asks us not simply, “What does the law require?” but also, “How can I faithfully apply the law while allowing this person to experience the love and mercy of God?”
For in the end, Saint Paul reminds us: “If I… understand all mysteries and all knowledge… but do not have love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2).
In every circumstance, regardless of time and place, charity must remain the paramount motive that inspires and guides our ministry. For law without love can become a burden, but law fulfilled in love becomes a path through which people encounter the compassionate heart of Christ.
