2026-08-25 - *Do not sacrifice people for rules* Author: fr. Camillus Nwaigwe
*25th of August 2026*
*Tuesday in the Twenty First Week of Ordinary Time, Year II*
_2Thess 2:1-3,14-17_
_Mt 23:23-26_
In the *Gospel* of today, Jesus said to the Pharisees, "You tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness." (Mt 23:23)
The problem with the Pharisees was not that they cared about the law. The problem was that they became so concerned about the smaller details that they forgot the people the law was meant to serve.
Dear friends, rules are important. Laws are necessary. Discipline matters. But when rules make us lose compassion, something has gone wrong. We can become so obsessed with "What does the rule say?" that we forget to ask, "What does love require?"
A parent can be so strict with a child that the child grows up afraid rather than loved. A leader can insist on regulations while ignoring the genuine struggles of those under him. In the Church, we can become so concerned about procedures that we forget the wounded person standing before us. Even in ordinary relationships, we can hold people to their mistakes for years because "they broke the rule," while refusing to give them an opportunity to repent and begin again.
Jesus is not teaching us to ignore the law. Rather, He teaches us to understand the heart of the law. The law of God ultimately leads us toward justice, mercy and faithfulness. This is why Christian maturity requires more than knowing rules. It requires knowing when compassion must accompany the rule.
There are people who will never come back to God because of a Christian who made them feel condemned rather than loved. There are people who have left relationships because they were judged more than they were understood. There are children who have stopped opening up to their parents because every mistake was met with punishment rather than guidance.
Therefore, whenever we apply a rule, we should ask, "Am I defending the truth, or am I using the truth to hurt someone?" "Am I correcting this person because I love them, or because I want to prove that I am right?"
The Christian does not throw away the law, but neither does the Christian sacrifice people on the altar of rules. Rules without love can become instruments of oppression.
Truth without mercy can become a weapon. But truth lived with love becomes a path to salvation.
Beloved, before enforcing a rule today, pause and remember the person standing in front of you. Justice matters. Truth matters. Rules matter. But Jesus reminds us that mercy and love must never be forgotten.
*God bless you*
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