Today in Scripture

As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain.
At this the Pharisees said to him,
“Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
He said to them,
“Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions?”
Then he said to them,
“The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.
That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”
Mark 2: 23-28

Rules are important for keeping good order in a family or community. Most rules reflect the wisdom gained from multiple instances of trial and error.

Some rules however, have lost their authority through irrelevance or a lack of wise origin: "You can't do that." "Why not?" "We don't do that that way." "Why not?" "We've never done it that way." "Why not?" -silence-

In this Gospel, Jesus isn't counseling blatant disregard for authority and tradition, but he is reminding the Pharisees (and us) that the welfare of the person/community supersedes a law that is not life-giving or love-giving in that circumstance. Far from shouting, "hey, anything goes, as long as you're happy!", the point here is to use your God-given gift of conscience, grounded in love, tempered by prudence, and oriented toward the good of others rather than selfish concerns, to live out your faith by the choices you make.

St. Augustine famously said, "Love, and do what you will." That's not the syrupy hearts and flowers sort of love that's invaded our local drug stores in anticipation of St. Valentine's day. If you are a person grounded in love, grounded in God who IS Love, your choices (your will) can't help but be focused in the right direction.

Sometimes we adults pine for the relative clarity of childhood: do this and you get a gold star; do that and you get a time-out. Old-time Catholics might translate that to: follow the rules and you'll get points toward heaven; sin and you'd better get to confession ASAP!  Taking responsibility for our moral choices and actions is a recognition that we are adult Christians, not children. Sometimes that leads to a holy freedom; sometimes that leads to a humbling need for reconciliation with those who have been offended in whatever way. Fear not! Jesus encourages us to remember the point of it all: Love.