Both of the readings for mass today are very beautiful. Every single word is just saturated in love. These words are such a joy to reflect on.
The first reading from the prophet Hosea beautifully illustrates the tenderness of God’s love for all of us:
“I will heal their disloyalty; I will love them with all my heart, for my anger has turned from them. I will fall like dew on Israel. He shall bloom like the lily,“
“They will come back to live in my shade; they will grow corn that flourishes, they will cultivate vines as renowned as the wine of Helbon. What has Ephraim to do with idols any more when it is I who hear his prayer and care for him?”
God’s love for us is so tender, compassionate, understanding and healing. Why do we not seek Him more? In prayer, in solitude, in nature. He alone can heal our lives, heal our wounds, and bring us a deep inner peace to our souls. But, so often we seek everything else in the world except for Him. TV, shopping, sports, eating out, the latest movie, etc. can never bring us the deep peace and unconditional love that we all crave.
The gospel is not about God’s love for us, but our love for Him. A Pharisee asked Jesus in today’s gospel:
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
Jesus answered the Pharisee:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and with all of your strength. This is the greatest and first commandment.”
“This second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Most of us are pretty good at being aware of the need to love others. It’s easy to grasp that concept because human beings are flesh and blood, and we see their suffering, we see their need to be loved.
But, it often seems like we have the two great commandments reversed in our lives:
1. We love other people, as we love ourselves.
2. We love God.
This is the challenge to think about today though. Is God really the first place in our lives? Do we truly know Him on a personal level? Or does God seem to be pretty distant, a fuzzy picture in our mind of what we have read, or been told about Him?
God is a real entity. He has His own personality. He sometimes gets upset and frustrated with us, but He can also be very compassionate and understanding. He loves us deeply and unconditionally, in a completely personal way.
If we reach for God in prayer, He will reach back for us. God’s embrace is more beautiful than anything else in life that we can ever experience. He will reveal Himself to you, through grace, if you consistently seek Him in prayer, solitude and nature. Seek Him out in prayer frequently.
Speak to Him with your heart alone. Your life will change. He will reveal many things to you, through acts of grace, just to show you how much He loves you!
That is all He really wants. To enter into a relationship of love and friendship with you. The life of the Spirit isn’t found in a temporal way. Open your heart to Him in prayer and He will reveal Himself to you in a thousand ways. Your life will be filled with such joy and peace, that you will no longer crave the material things in life. And you will never want to do anything to damper the beautiful feelings of love, peace and joy that you come to know in His friendship.
Perhaps this weekend might be a good time to seek some quality time in nature? Or spend some extra time in solitude and prayer? It’s possible to find time for the things in life that matter to us the most. The question is … is God really the top priority in your life?
