Scripture: 1st Reading: Deuteronomy 6:2-6
2nd Reading: Hebrews 7: 23-28
Gospel: Mark 12: 28b-34
In today’s gospel reading Jesus is asked one of those questions where the questioner is looking for a short, simple statement, on a large complex subject. Even so, it seems that Jesus doesn’t need to stop and think before answering him.
Jesus refers back to the words of Moses which the scribe asking the question would have known very well and which we heard in the first reading, ” You must love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength.”
How can we love God this way and what must we do to accomplish this? What happens is we find first of all that we have to clear away various obstacles and distractions so that we can create the quiet and the solitude that’s necessary to raise our thoughts to God. You never hear of any saint that has not connected themselves with God without some type of reflection and some type of prayer.
If we persist in doing so, we start to become more aware of God’s presence, more aware of his influence and activity in our daily lives. A sense of dependence starts to grow. It is a relationship like father and child, shepherd and sheep.
We experience the force of God’s grace as a protecting, guiding and loving force in all aspects of our lives. And in response we start to feel a desire to dedicate ourselves to God and to serve him in return.
It seems that when Jesus talked about love of God as the greatest commandment, it was something along these lines that he meant, this growing sense of the reality of God that we get when we persist in seeking him out and the devotion to him that we develop as we make progress in our relationship with him. However, Jesus does not leave things there. He adds a second commandment just as important as the first; “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” Not as easy as it sounds, is it?
But if our love of God is real and sincere, Christ is saying it will express itself in love for our fellow human beings. The love that Christ is proposing is a determined effort of will to surrender our own self interest for the sake of the needs and welfare of others.
Jesus’ own illustration of this love is shown in the story of the Good Samaritan who put himself out to help and look after a complete stranger. In that situation, would we act in the same way?
I think the most important thing we can do is to constantly seek God in every minute of every day, in all our situations of life, whether in good times or bad times. We will find Him everywhere and we will feel His love for us. This short story will bear this out:
A famous preacher went one day to visit a farmer who was a member of his church. On a windmill on the farm were written the words, “God is Love.” “Do you mean” asked the great preacher, “that your faith in God is dependent on the direction the wind is blowing?” “No”, said the farmer, “the words mean that regardless of which way the wind blows, God is Love.”
If we truly accept God’s love for us and share that love with him, we will without thought, share that love with others. But, I know at times we become somewhat lost and don’t really know where to look or where to turn. The danger in this thinking is that we end up not acting or doing anything. We close ourselves to the love and will of God for us.
Parish life is a great place to find ourselves, a place to search out, a place to act. First and foremost, keep searching God out. He is there and when we search we open ourselves to feel his presence, to feel his love.
Look at all the places in our parish you can find him: in our baptismal waters of new life as we enter the church, in the gathering of the faithful around his altar, in the prayers, the music, the mass, especially in the Eucharist and just sitting in front of the tabernacle, and maybe a visit in front of our Blessed Mother.
You know, there is a great adult education program that Steve Connally moderates after the 8 A.M. mass most Sunday’s. He opens the doors to the Kaufman room in invitation to search out God by learning more of our faith. This adult education program can help us on our journey’s to know and love God more.
The more we love the more we search for knowledge and meaning for what is the will of God for our lives. Now, we can have all the knowledge and degrees but without love genuinely in our hearts, our minds, we block the will of God. Can we be the children of God without love in our hearts for him and our neighbor?
Peter A. Fraile, A Jesuit priest and founder of the Divine and Human Institute tells of a letter he once received from a sixteen year old girl. In the letter she said she was having a problem with another girl who was trying to steal her friend.
She wrote about the jealousy, anger, and frustration she was feeling and how she was trying to deal with it. She went on to say that even though she now disliked her, the friend is still as lovable and valuable as she herself.
Then she ended the letter with these beautiful words: “As I was finishing this letter, something hit me like a ton of bricks. I have seen my father’s library, and he has many books that I want to read. I have lots of time ahead of me to read and learn, but I just realized one thing. No matter how much I learn, no matter how much I write, no matter how much I experience, If I don’t love, I don’t know anything.”
I mentioned a few minutes ago that a good place to start is in our own parish. This weekend after all masses, the parish is putting on a ministry fair. Now, I know that you all have love in your hearts for God or you would not be here. Now is your chance to honor the other part of the commandment to love your neighbor through service to others.
I know that our parish needs people like you to fill our ministry needs.. Come join with me in looking at all the different types of ministries available for you to serve your neighbor by getting involved in our parish ministries. This is where we can start. This is where we become spiritually fed to go out and serve the greater community.
Love of God and neighbor starts right here, in our hearts. Just imagine with hearts truly filled with the love of God and neighbor, how many lives can be transformed by that love? Recall what we heard in the gospel this morning:
“Hear O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your strength!
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.”