The Law of Love
Richard Leonard SJ, PAULIST PRESS, ISBN 9780809155378
Richard Leonard wrote his latest book during the pandemic. It was a time when laws kept us isolated and masked. We frequently had to struggle between self-preoccupation and concern for others – God’s love for us perhaps faded into the background.
Those who have had the privilege and pleasure of reading Richard Leonard’s other books will find in this reflection on love and law the same colloquial style, the same invitation to enter his own experience and that of others, the same informed reflection on scripture, and the same rich collections of stories and sayings.
He builds the book around the fact that we often see love and law as enemies. He organises the book around the scriptural themes of the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, the Lord’s Prayer and the greatest commandment to love one another as God loves. He shows us that in all these central Christian texts God is a God of love. We are invited to accept God’s love and to share it with others. At the heart of the Gospel is Jesus, God’s Son and gift to us, who embodies in his life and death God’s love for us.
The Law of Love is full of stories and sayings that make you stop and think. I found the most challenging and helpful to be his question to couples preparing for marriage to ask one another, ‘What effect would adultery have on our marriage?’ I would be afraid that the question would be the end of the conversation – in fact, it prompted a rich conversation. It reminded me that love drives out fear.