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103. Duration of the Ceremonial Precepts

1. When the Old Law was given to men, it made obligatorysome ceremonies that were already practiced by good men ofprophetic gifts. Other ceremonies were newly set up by the Law.

2. The cleansing ceremonies of the Old Law were to removeirregularities of a material nature which unfitted a man forceremonial worship. But they could not take away sin from the soul.They expressed faith in the Redeemer to come, and signified thepurifying of the soul to be achieved through the merits of Christ.But they could not confer grace.

3. The ceremonial law ceased with the coming of Christ.For, as we have seen, the ceremonies prescribed by the Old Law werealso prophecies. And when a prophecy has been fulfilled, it ceasesto exist; it has reached its term; it no longer has meaning. Evensuch Old Law ceremonies as prefigured heaven gave way to the moreperfect prophecies and prefigurings of the New Law.

4. It would be seriously sinful to observe the ceremoniesof the Old Law as though they still had significance and bindingforce. This would be a practical denial that the propheciesexpressed in the ceremonies had been fulfilled. It would be apractical denial of Christ, and of the necessity and sufficiency ofthe Christian order.

"If, devout soul, it is your will to please God and live a life of serenity in this world, unite yourself always and in all things to the divine will. Reflect that all the sins of your past wicked life happened because you wandered from the path of God's will. For the future, embrace God's good pleasure and say to him in every happening: "Yea, Father, for so it hath seemed good in thy sight." "
St Alphonsus de Liguori

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"God speaks to us without ceasing by his good inspirations."
The Cure D'Ars

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"Shun too great a desire for knowledge, for in it there is much fretting and delusion. Intellectuals like to appear learned and to be called wise. Yet there are many things the knowledge of which does little or no good to the soul, and he who concerns himself about other things than those which lead to salvation is very unwise. "
Thomas á Kempis

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