In today’s gospel, a scholar of the law asked Jesus what he should do to inherit eternal life? Before he answered the scholar’s question, Jesus replied to him on his level, in a way that he could relate to:
“What is written in the law? How do you read it?”
In other words, how do you interpret the scriptures? This is worth stopping to consider. The scholar answered correctly:
“You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself.”
On the surface of things, these words are pretty simple to understand. We think we’ve got it, the first time we read them. But, do we really? Putting these words into practice, and keeping them in the right priority in our lives is another story.
If you go back to the first reading for Mass from the book of Galatians, the first verse reflects this difficulty:
“Brothers and sisters: I am amazed that you are so quickly forsaking the one who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel (not that there is another) … But, even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel other than the one that we preached to you, let that one be accursed!”
It is very easy to become distracted from the very basic things that we believe, as Catholics. We should love God first. Even this can be complicated, trying to figure out how to actually do that. How do we put God first in our lives? Do we make a habit of praying first thing every morning? Do we end our day with prayer? Pray over our meals every time we eat, even in public?
Do we ever think of God, or is it easier to think about all of the external things of practicing our Catholic faith that is so much easier to understand? How often do we take the time to sit in the quiet at a park, or in the natural world, and reflect on God’s presence that permeates all of creation? Or look at the stars and moon in the night sky and see the traces of His fingerprints etched there? If you ever have trouble with your prayer life, or feel like you can’t feel God’s presence in your life, spending time in silence, solitude, prayer from the heart, and the natural world are excellent ways to reconnect with our Creator.
God the Father is a separate person from Jesus Christ. Yes, God, along with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, make up the Trinity, but God the Father is a separate person. He deserves to be recognized and loved for the awesome being that He is. Until we fully acknowledge Him as our creator, the rest of our faith does not fall into place as well as it should. Jesus never said to worship himself above all things, but to worship God the Father more than anything else in our lives.
In the rest of the gospel, Jesus answers the scholar’s question, “And who is my neighbor?” If you remember, Jesus also taught us that whatever we do for the least of his people, we do for him. Or, whatever we don’t do for the least of his people, we did not do it for him.
If you notice, a priest walked right by the man who was beaten by robbers. Of all people! He should have been the one to stop and help him, but he didn’t. The Levite viewed the man as unclean and moved over to the opposite side of the road when he saw him. It was a Samaritan who finally helped him. Samaritans were not in the same class of people as the Jews or Levites. Samaritans were looked down upon, but that was actually who Jesus praised. Not the holy, religious people, who knew all about the commandments, but did not follow them. He praised the lowest member of their society.
Jesus does not see people the same way we do. He only sees our hearts, and our actions. If our hearts are in the right place though, we will see Jesus reflected in the faces of those we encounter every day. This is the hard part, stepping out of our own little world enough to see Christ in those around us. And, then to respect them and love them, enough to see other people’s needs just as much as our own.
Daily Mass Readings:
Galatians 1: 6-12 / Psalm 111 / Luke 10: 25-37
