In the Gospel
for today the scribe asks Jesus which is the first of all the
commandments. Jesus responds,
“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 mind, and all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as
yourself. There is no other commandment
greater than these.” Well wait a
minute! The scribe asked which is
the first of all the commandments so why does Jesus respond with two
commandments. Is it because
Jesus want are love to be made real.
We are not to love only in theory but we must love in practice. If we truly love God, our love will be
made real in the concrete ways we reach out in love to others. Not only those that are easy to love
but those that call us to stretch in our understanding of love. We are called to keep widening the
circle to include all of those that God loves. That’s a mighty big circle!
Reflection
Where are you
called to stretch yourself so that you can widen the circle of your
loving? How does this feel to
you? Take time to pray and ask for
God’s grace to help you on this journey in growing in the practice of loving.
Loving God,
You are Love
and you call us to love.
Our love for
you is made real in the concrete actions
of love in our lives.
Help us to
open ourselves to all people
so that we might be stretched in our capacity
to love.
May our love
for you shine as we reach out to others in love.
We ask this
in the name of your son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
