Introduction:
May you continue to experience, reflect, and celebrate the Love that GOD
has for you and may that prompt you to love others as you are loved by GOD.
GOD
is Love (1 John). GOD loves us into existence. GOD empowers others to show
their love for us: our parents, other relatives, our spouses, and our friends.
When we sense we are loved, we begin to understand what Love is and we
experience GOD’s loving us. When we can accept that we are loveable – that others
and (especially GOD) love us in spite of our faults – we can then begin to
share that love with others and love them as we have been loved.
“Shema,
Israel” echoes through in the First Reading. These words mean “Hear, O
Israel.” But they are not just for the Israelites of old, but for all who are
called by GOD. We are to hear GOD’s message and respond accordingly. In the
First Reading, Moses is said to address these words to those who have been
traveling with him for forty years, calling them to listen to the importance of
GOD’s Word and to love GOD with their whole being. The Responsorial proclaims
the love that the psalmist has for GOD Who is the source of one’s whole being.
The reading from the Letter to the Hebrews reaffirms the superiority and
uniqueness of the priesthood of Jesus Christ when compared to the high
priesthood of the old. Jesus in the Gospel encapsulates the laws of old in the
commandment of completely loving GOD and loving others. To do so draws one
further into the Reign of GOD.
First Reading; Deuteronomy 6:2-6:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
Commentary: This reading is very special: it is
the command that rules Israel’s life and the life of every true Christian. The
faithful Jew recites this passage morning, noon, and night, and in prayer
carries the text literally before the eyes, on the hands, and on the doorposts
of the house, so that one is always aware of the most important loyalty in
life. This is a symbol that the love of God must dominate all our actions and
thoughts; it must be always in our minds and thoughts and must be the guide of
all our deeds and motivations. God is a God of love and warmth of the heart,
not a God of threats or compulsion. To serve God is a joy and happiness,
bringing light and colour into our lives. If God is not in our lives and
thoughts, we are the poorer for it and lack not only truth but also the warmth
of an unspeakable, personal friendship. The only difference that the New
Testament brings, as St Paul explains, is that for Christians there is not
merely one LORD God. For us, there is one God, the Father, from whom all things
come, and one LORD, Jesus Christ, through whom all things come.
Responsorial Psalm 18:2-4,47,51:
I love you, Lord, my strength.
The
Responsorial Psalm is a proclamation of the role of GOD in the life of the
psalmist. The psalmist realizes that without GOD there would be no life, no
salvation (salus), and no wherewithal to continue. The only
fitting response to all GOD is and does is to love GOD completely.
Second Reading; Hebrews 7:23-28:
Christ, because he remains forever, can never lose his priesthood
Commentary: The pagan idea of sacrifice was to
make reparation to a demanding and often angry god, to divert a capricious god
from our own failings by flattery and gifts. The blood of the victim that was
shed was a substitute for human blood, paying the price for a life which should
have been forfeit. The Christian idea is entirely different. Christ is the
perfect human being who is also divine, united to his Father in a perfect and
permanent act of love. This reached its highest expression in the offering of
his life in loving obedience. It was not a barbaric act of paying a penalty
which I should have paid, but a return in tender love in which I may share.
Christ still remains with or before the Father in this permanent, timeless act
of loving obedience or loving embrace, accepted and vindicated by the Father in
the Resurrection, which raises Christ onto a new plane of existence in God. The
Letter to the Hebrews, written for Christians of Jewish origin who still
hankered after the rituals of the Temple, makes clear that Christ’s offering is
the perfect fulfilment of all the objectives and devotion imperfectly expressed
in the rituals of the Temple.
Gospel; Mark 12:28-34: 'You are
not far from the kingdom of God'
Commentary: The Pharisees have a bad name, but
they should not. They, among all the parties of the Jews, were concerned above
all to live holy lives and to keep the traditions and the Covenant. The vices
they are reproached for, such as pedantry and pernicketiness, and even
hypocrisy, are occupational hazards for any group of people that try to do
good. From ‘I am doing good’ to ‘I am good’ is a small step, and from ‘I am
good’ to ‘anything is good if I do it’ is another small step. We see it often
even today. As the saying goes, corruptio optimi pessimal – the best,
corrupted, becomes the worst.
Thus the most
positive, you might even say the most intimate, contacts between Jesus and the
Jewish establishment come when he is talking to a scribe or a Pharisee. Here is
one of the best, and the most instructive. There is no suggestion in this
Gospel that this Pharisee lawyer was trying to trick Jesus; he was just asking
this teacher a typical Jewish question about priorities because he wanted to
know the answer.
Jesus replies
with an impeccable Rabbinic answer, bringing together two texts from different
books of the Bible. In bringing them together he is using an acknowledged
principle of exegesis: if two texts share the same words, they should be
interpreted together. The two texts that Jesus uses are the only two in the
Bible where occur the words ‘and you shall love’ with a direct object. The
first, about the love of God, is from the basic confession of faith in
Deuteronomy 6.5, recited by every faithful Jew three times a day, ‘And you
shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, mind and strength’, as
straightforward a priority as you could wish. But the exciting thing about the
answer is that Jesus couples that with another text from Leviticus 19.18, ‘And
you shall love your neighbour as yourself’. The command is not new, but it is
only staggering that Jesus puts it on a level with the other. It will, of
course, in all his discussions be his main principle in interpreting the Law.
But again and again, Jesus shows his mastery of the scriptures, a more profound
understanding, going straight to the heart of the major
texts of the Bible.
Reflection: What is
the purpose of God's law or commandments? The Pharisees prided themselves in
the knowledge of the law and their ritual requirements. They made it a lifetime
practice to study the 613 precepts of the Old Testament along with the numerous
rabbinic commentaries. They tested Jesus to see if he correctly understood the
law as they did. Jesus startled them with his profound simplicity and mastery
of the law of God and its purpose.
Our love for God is a response to his exceeding grace and kindness
towards us: What does God require of us? Simply we love as he loves!
God is love and everything he does flows from his love for us. God loved us
first and our love for him is a response to his exceeding grace and kindness
towards us. The love of God comes first and the love of neighbor is firmly
grounded in the love of God. The more we know of God's love and truth the more
we love what he loves and reject what is hateful and contrary to his will.
Faith and hope strengthen our love for God: What
makes our love for God and his commands grow in us? Faith in God and hope in
his promises strengthen us in the love of God. They are essential for a good
relationship with God, and for being united with him. The more we know of God
the more we love him and the more we love him the greater we believe and hope
in his promises. The Lord, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, gives us a new
freedom to love as he loves. Do you allow anything to keep you from the love of
God and the joy of serving others with a generous heart? Paul the Apostle says:
Hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us (Romans 5:5). Do you know
the love which conquers all?
We love you, O
our God; and we desire to love you more and more. Grant to us that we may love
you as much as we desire, and as much as we ought. O dearest friend, who has so
loved and saved us, the thought of whom is so sweet and always growing sweeter,
come with Christ and dwell in our hearts; that you keep a watch over our lips,
our steps, our deeds, and we shall not need to be anxious either for our souls
or our bodies. Give us love, sweetest of all gifts, which knows no enemy. Give
us in our hearts pure love, born of your love to us, that we may love others as
you love us. O most loving Father of Jesus Christ, from whom flows all love,
let our hearts, frozen in sin, cold to you and cold to others, be warmed by
this divine fire. So help and bless us in your Son. (Prayer of Anselm, 1033-1109)
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Love God with one's whole self, by Gregory of Nyssa,
330-395 AD
"Human
life consists in a threefold unity. We are taught similarly by the apostle in
what he says to the Ephesians, praying for them that the complete grace of
their 'body and soul and spirit' may be preserved at the coming of the Lord. We
use the word 'body,' for the nutritive part, the word for the vital, 'soul,'
and the word 'spirit' for the intellective dimension. In just this way the Lord
instructs the writer of the Gospel that he should set before every commandment
that love to God which is exercised with all the heart and soul and mind (Mark
12:30; Matthew 22:37; Luke 10:27). This single phrase embraces the human whole:
the corporeal heart, the mind as the higher intellectual and mental nature, and
the soul as their mediator." (excerpt from ON THE MAKING OF MAN 8.5.10)
What’s “therefore” there for? “One of the scribes
came up, and when he heard them arguing he realized how skillfully Jesus
answered them. He decided to ask Him, ‘Which is the first of all the
commandments?’ Jesus replied: ‘This is the first...’” —Mark 12:28-29
The first of
all the commandments is: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone!” (Mk
12:29; Dt 6:4) Since He is Lord, “therefore you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your
strength” (Mk 12:30).
The word
“therefore” shows that the giving of “our all” is based on the acceptance of
God as Lord alone. We repeatedly call people to “give their all” in work,
finances, etc. But, when we try this in evangelization, the response to our
pleas is usually apathetic; so we then try to adapt Christianity by making it a
half-hearted activity rather than a total commitment. Rather, we should discern
the reason for the refusal to give all is that God is not accepted as Lord
alone.
Unless we obey
the first commandment, we are not fully obeying the others. Commitment to
Christ’s Body must be preceded by commitment to the Lord, the Head of the Body,
which is the Church (Eph 1:22-23). Until Jesus is Lord of all, He’s not Lord at
all, and Christian life is not even possible. “You are right in saying, ‘He is
the One, there is no other than He’ ” (Mk 12:32). First things first.
Prayer: Jesus, I repent of my sins. I ask You to
come into my heart. I accept You as my Lord and Savior. Take over my life. “Therefore,
He is always able to save those who approach God through Him since He forever
lives to make intercession for them.” —Heb 7:25. All praise be to You,
glorious, risen Lord Jesus Christ! You reign supreme over all creation. I
worship You, magnificent in glory.
The
personal action for today: How have I “heard” and/or experienced
the Love of GOD? Do I sense that I am truly loved? by someone else? by GOD? How
does my being loved affect my ability to love others? What does it mean to me
that I love with my whole mind, body, and strength? Do I “understand” that my
love for GOD is manifested in my love for others? What are some practical ways
that I can be more loving?
Saint Martin de Porres: “Father unknown” is
the cold legal phrase sometimes used on baptismal records. “Half-breed” or “war
souvenir” is the cruel name inflicted by those of “pure” blood. Like many
others, Martin might have grown to be a bitter man, but he did not. It was said
that even as a child he gave his heart and his goods to the poor and despised.
He was the son of a freed woman of Panama, probably
black but also possibly of indigenous stock, and a Spanish grandee of Lima,
Peru. His parents never married each other. Martin inherited the features and
dark complexion of his mother. That irked his father, who finally acknowledged
his son after eight years. After the birth of a sister, the father abandoned
the family. Martin was reared in poverty, locked into a low level of Lima’s
society. When he was 12, his mother apprenticed him to a barber-surgeon. Martin
learned how to cut hair and also how to draw blood—a standard medical treatment
then—care for wounds, and prepare and administer medicines.
After a few years in this medical apostolate,
Martin applied to the Dominicans to be a “lay helper,” not feeling himself
worthy to be a religious brother. After nine years, the example of his prayer
and penance, charity, and humility, led the community to request him to make
full religious profession. Many of his nights were spent in prayer and
penitential practices; his days were filled with nursing the sick and caring
for the poor. It was particularly impressive that he treated all people
regardless of their color, race, or status. He was instrumental in founding an
orphanage, took care of slaves brought from Africa, and managed the daily alms
of the priory with practicality, as well as generosity. He became the
procurator for both priory and city, whether it was a matter of “blankets,
shirts, candles, candy, miracles or prayers!” When his priory was in debt, he
said, “I am only a poor mulatto. Sell me. I am the property of the order. Sell
me.”
Side by side with his daily work in the kitchen,
laundry, and infirmary, Martin’s life reflected God’s extraordinary gifts:
ecstasies that lifted him into the air, light filling the room where he prayed,
bi-location, miraculous knowledge, instantaneous cures, and a remarkable
rapport with animals. His charity extended to beasts of the field and even to
the vermin of the kitchen. He would excuse the raids of mice and rats on the
grounds that they were underfed; he kept stray cats and dogs at his sister’s
house.
Martin became a formidable fundraiser, obtaining
thousands of dollars for dowries for poor girls so that they could marry or
enter a convent. Many of his fellow religious took Martin as their spiritual
director, but he continued to call himself a “poor slave.” He was a good friend
of another Dominican saint of Peru, Rose of Lima.
Racism is a sin almost nobody confesses. Like
pollution, it is a “sin of the world” that is everybody’s responsibility but
apparently nobody’s fault. One could hardly imagine a more fitting patron of
Christian forgiveness–on the part of those discriminated against—and Christian
justice–on the part of reformed racists—than Martin de Porres.
Greatest Commandment: