Jun 05 2024 5 mins
Thursday 9th week in ordinary time "Mk 12:28-34"
One of the scribes asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?" Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." The First Commandment is not about doing things but about loving above all things. What God wants from us is 'love'. The most important activity that human beings are capable of is 'love'. And when loving God, that love has to be without limits. C.S. Lewis writes in his Screwtape Letters the advice given by a senior demon to his apprentice nephew. Among the tips that he quotes, he suggests talking to the soul he wants to bring to hell about "moderation in all things", and to convince him that "religion is all very well up to a point." At the end of the day, he concludes, "A moderated religion is as good for us as no religion at all - and more amusing." The day that we will meet St Peter he will check our love. He may have a sort of gadget, like a 'Love-o-meter' to check if we loved God above all things. Certainly "above all things" implies 'many things.' For St Peter it meant to love God more than his boat and his job. For St John and St James, more than their father and their trade. For St Thomas the Apostle, more than his certainties and ideas. For St Matthew, more than his money. For St Augustine, more than his pleasure. For St Francis of Assisi, more than his father and his belongings. For St Thomas Aquinas, more than his family plans and all his books. For St Francis de Borja, more than his prestige. For St Josemaría, more than his architecture degree. For St John Paul II, more than his homeland. For St Teresa of Calcutta, more than her life in her first convent. For thousands of martyrs, more than their lives. And for you and me? To love God more than my marks and grades, my clothes, my comfort, my friends, my plans, my family, my good name, my works, my health, my appearance, my smartphone, my home…? Mary, my Mother, what is it that prevents me from loving God above all things? Would you, Mother, help me to remove any hindrance to my complete love for God?
One of the scribes asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?" Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." The First Commandment is not about doing things but about loving above all things. What God wants from us is 'love'. The most important activity that human beings are capable of is 'love'. And when loving God, that love has to be without limits. C.S. Lewis writes in his Screwtape Letters the advice given by a senior demon to his apprentice nephew. Among the tips that he quotes, he suggests talking to the soul he wants to bring to hell about "moderation in all things", and to convince him that "religion is all very well up to a point." At the end of the day, he concludes, "A moderated religion is as good for us as no religion at all - and more amusing." The day that we will meet St Peter he will check our love. He may have a sort of gadget, like a 'Love-o-meter' to check if we loved God above all things. Certainly "above all things" implies 'many things.' For St Peter it meant to love God more than his boat and his job. For St John and St James, more than their father and their trade. For St Thomas the Apostle, more than his certainties and ideas. For St Matthew, more than his money. For St Augustine, more than his pleasure. For St Francis of Assisi, more than his father and his belongings. For St Thomas Aquinas, more than his family plans and all his books. For St Francis de Borja, more than his prestige. For St Josemaría, more than his architecture degree. For St John Paul II, more than his homeland. For St Teresa of Calcutta, more than her life in her first convent. For thousands of martyrs, more than their lives. And for you and me? To love God more than my marks and grades, my clothes, my comfort, my friends, my plans, my family, my good name, my works, my health, my appearance, my smartphone, my home…? Mary, my Mother, what is it that prevents me from loving God above all things? Would you, Mother, help me to remove any hindrance to my complete love for God?