One day, two farmers were arguing about the validity of their respective religions. A third farmer listened for a while and then observed, “I’s been bringing my wheat here to this same mill for over forty years. Now, there be two roads that lead up to the mill. Never once, friends, has the miller asked me which road I takes. He just asks, “Is your wheat good?”
I doubt anyone here is a wheat farmer, but supposedly we are all on a journey leading us to be with God. When we get to the pearly gates, I don’t imagine St. Peter is going to ask us how we got there, but if this gospel is any indication, we will be asked, “Is your love good?”
In today’s readings we learn how essential it is for us to love.
Our short gospel passage makes that clear. Once again, the Pharisees set out to stump Jesus by asking him which is the greatest commandment. The Torah listed not ten but 613 commandments. Quoting scripture, Jesus replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment.”
Then he added, “The second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” This afterthought points out that the other commandments serve as ways for us to demonstrate that our love is good.
When we hear that word, we usually think of romance, joy and warm feelings and sometimes it is; other times love is a matter of dedication, loyalty and commitment. We think of love as being defined by the interior disposition of our hearts but these readings stress that love also involves doing what God wants us to, even if we don’t feel like it and our heart isn’t in it. Love of God is more than warm fuzzy feelings and thoughts. Love of God has to be shown if our love is good.
As Paul points out, we are called to imitate the Lord and serve the living and true God rather than idols. Idols in this day and age could be whatever obsesses us, such as the Internet, professional sports, or computer games. Instead, we are urged to take seriously the command to keep holy the Lord’s Day by taking time for worship, such as we are doing today. But will you do that on All Saints’ Day?
The passage from Exodus begins with God’s commands to be careful in how we treat others. God speaks of aliens, widows, and orphans as well as the poor and needy. If they are mistreated and cry out, God will hear their cries because God is compassionate and expects us to be as well. How can we hear this passage without thinking of those less fortunate than we are? Illegal immigrants, for example, who face a bleak future if they are deported, or folks standing on street corners with their possessions because they can’t find an affordable place to call home. When you see them, are you uncaring and harbor ill thoughts? Or are you prompted by God’s dire warning to show compassion toward them? If so, your love is good.
To profess that we love God while remaining indifferent to the plight of others is a contradiction. Showing love in such circumstances may be dreadfully difficult yet, more often than not, we meet God in such encounters. Our holiness is an illusion if we pray daily and attend Mass on Sundays, but distance ourselves from others. God cares about how we treat others for everyone is made in his image.
These two commandments, love of God and love of neighbor, are actually one. There is only one means of loving God and proving that love: it is by loving our neighbor; there is only one medium by which we serve God: it is by serving our neighbor and conversely, love of neighbor is made possible by our loving relationship with God. God’s unconditional love is what enables us to overcome our lack of concern for others and our selfishness. The greatest commandment ultimately demands a new lifestyle, a way of living that draws us so close to God that we become His presence for others.
In the corporal works of mercy God gives us ways to show that our love is good. Anytime you forget what they are, just look at our windows: visit the imprisoned, visit the sick, feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger and bury the dead.
God wisely gives us other ways to demonstrate love, such as the Ten Commandments. The first three remind us that God should come first in our lives, since without God, we would not even be alive, let alone gathered here in worship. The other seven are means for us to prove our love of neighbor, thus showing that our love is good.
In your next quiet prayer time, I invite you to reflect deeply on your relationship to your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and even strangers. Ask yourself if there are there situations in your life where you refuse to forgive another person for something said or done to you? How do you feel when someone has treated you unfairly or unjustly? Your answer is one way of judging for yourself if your love is good.