THE NATURAL LAW
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| Albino Luciani - John Paul I |
Charles E. Rice
Professor Emeritus, Notre Dame Law School
Address, Canon Law Conference
Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe
LaCrosse, Wisconsin
August 9, 2011
Once a man went to buy a motorcar from the agent. The latter talked to him plainly: “Look here, it’s a good car; mind that you treat it well: premium petrol in the tank, and for the joints, oil, the good stuff.” But the other replied: “Oh, no, for your information, I can’t stand even the smell of petrol, nor oil; I’ll put champagne, which I like so much, in the tank and I’ll oil the joints with jam.” “Do what you like: but don’t come and complain if you end up in a ditch, with your car!”“The Lord,” he continued, “did something similar with us: he gave us this body, animated by an intelligent soul, a good will. He said, ‘this machine is a good one, but treat it well.’” And God did more: “God gave [the Commandments] to us not to satisfy a whim, not in his own interest, but solely in our interest.” The Commandments are specifications of the natural law. Together they constitute a set of manufacturer’s directions, given by our Creator “solely for our interest.”
When the seller warned the buyer to “treat it well,” he meant the buyer should do good by his car. Everything has a nature, built into it by its maker. The good is that which is in accord with the nature of the thing. It is good to put gasoline in the tank. It is not good to put champagne or sand in the tank because that violates the nature of the car. If you do put champagne or sand in the tank, you will be pro-choice, but you will also be a pedestrian. That is so because the natural law is the story of how things work. John Paul I reminds us that our culture is like the guy who puts sand in his gas tank and is surprised when the car doesn’t run.
Read the full piece here at the Wanderer Forum Foundation's website.
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