at a small parish for Christmas with 12 other family members.

The Mass at the seminary is extremely formal with the pews filled with seminarians in black clerics and Vietnamese Sisters in black habits and a few lay people in the back. The lectors and acolytes are seminarians practicing so there is an odd feeling of tension coming from their own knowledge and ours that they are being judged. As a result, coming to the parish it seemed to me as the parish Mass is like a hearth vs. the seminary being like boot camp!
More about the Moral Law
Holy Spirit:
We (the word “we” here refers to the Holy Trinity) need the moral law because humans are so greedy about trying for heaven on earth in following their illusions that worldly goods will make them happy, such as stolen possessions or the pride of fame.
Just the same, it is not as if once someone sins we give up on them and totally
reject them. No. We let them live in the consequences of their wrong choices.
The “righteous” want to see a clearer punishment, such as the immediate
destruction of the body of the sinner. This is because the “righteous” are tempted
and jealous of the seeming good the sinner got by breaking the code. The
“righteous” then feel frightened that the other sinners “got away with it.”
In this way, concupiscence in some (greed for bodily satisfactions such as lust,
gluttony, possessions) and pride, in others, make a vicious circle.
Both the concupiscent and the proud are motivated by fear: fear of not
having enough, leads to covetousness. The fear of being a wretched coveter instead
of a proud Stoic (self-sufficient person) leads (the self-righteous) to sins of anger and desire for vengeance, and trying to be victorious through denunciation.
By offering you the perfect love of the Trinity and, through the centuries, the comfort of the love of your spiritual mother, Mary, and the model of so many saints and Holy Communion ( communion with us) we try to reach into you to open the
knots of fear. As our love finds a place in you, we build a well in the depth of you in which to gradually pour in grace which, over time, overflows so you can love your neighbor as yourself.
“But, be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
The Family
Holy Spirit:
Out of individualism, you think too much as if each individual has to have every virtue to be complete, whole and perfect. Your critical eye focuses on each one in a family and you think about each ones defects and your mind works on how you would like each one to be. The same with your family in the Church.