Thursday, June 3, 2021

 Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and companions, martyrs

(Tobit 6:10-11.7:1bcde,9-17.8:4-9a; Mark 12:28-34)

How we are to show our love for God, Jesus’ first commandment, has puzzled the modern age.  Some people propose that the only way to do so is to love one’s neighbor.  Although love of neighbor is never to be dismissed, the first reading today gives us a way to love God directly.

Love may be defined as seeking the good of the other.  Tobias and Sarah seek God’s glory, a wonderful good, when they pray, “Blessed are you, O God of our fathers, praised be your name forever and ever.” Also, when they ask God’s help in their marriage, they are recognizing God as powerful and contributing to his glory.

Even prayers of petition then express our love for God.  They also redound to our benefit as God always answers our prayers.  We thus fulfill that trailer phrase in the second commandment, “’…love yourself.’”

Friday, March 29, 2019

Friday of the Third Week of Lent

(Hosea 14:2-10; Mark 12:28-34)

The First Letter of John seems to hint that we can only love God by loving our neighbor.  Jesus, however, in today’s gospel does not compress love of God into love of neighbor.  Quite the contrary, he prescribes a robust regimen for loving God.  He says that we are to love Him with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength.  How are we to accomplish all these practices?

In loving God with our whole heart we do not give attention to anything that will lead us away from Him.  We do not look at pornography or engage in gossip, for example. Loving God with our whole soul means to love Him fully emotionally.  We desire to be with Him and express our joy in His presence.  Practically it means to carry on continual conversation with God in prayer.  When we study Scripture and theology, we love God with all our mind.  Finally, in making significant sacrifices for God’s sake we love God with all our strength.  Perhaps in today’s contraceptive culture, the young couple who practices Natural Family Planning if they cannot afford to have more children well exemplifies a strong love for God.

Jesus tells the scribe who endorses his principal commandments that he is “not far from the Kingdom of God.”  He is not in the Kingdom yet because he has to act on what he acknowledges to be true.  Nevertheless, knowing what must be done is an important step to doing it.

Homilette for Friday, August 22, 2008

Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

(Matthew 22:34-40)

About ten years ago a Jesuit theologian wrote of a disturbing trend. He said that people today no longer talk about love of God. Rather they talk about love of neighbor and love of self as if these were contemporary ways to love God. The theologian did not approve of the trend and assured his readers that love of God is not only possible but necessary.

For Jesus to love God with all our heart means to have God as our first and foremost desire. It is to say with Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, “As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus.” To love God with all our soul is to desire everlasting life in His company. Although this may seem self-seeking, it is not selfishness. It is only taking delight in the beloved. A poem repeated every night on an old radio program put it well: “I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you.”

Jesus wants us also to love God with all our mind. This requires that we read about, think about, and talk about God with others. Many people spend most of their free time watching television. Loving God may mean for them turning off the TV to reflect on God’s goodness. Helping others is a practical way to demonstrate our love for God. Although St. Paul writes that it is possible to give away everything and still lack love, most of us send contributions for emergency relief to people we do not know because God wills it. Those who love God generally respond quickly and effectively to the needs of other humans.