The gospel reading for this Sunday Matthew 22: 34-40 captures the essence of what it means to be a faithful Christian.
The Pharisees when asked, Master, what is the great commandment of the Law? They are not interested in the answer their main concern is to test Jesus, to confront Jesus, to catch him out and find some reason to discredit him.
They fail. Jesus simply refers to the great Jewish profession of faith, the Shema, . . . you shall love your God with al your heart, with all your soul and with al your mind. This poetic and enchanting verse asks for a total commitment to love God.
The second component Jesus adds is of equal importance, you must love your neighbour as yourself. The equilibrium, the balance, the two wings of love where love of God and love of neighbour are the rhythm of breathing in and out. Impossible to separate.
The great mystic and doctor of the Church, Catherine of Siena reflects on this essential heartbeat in living the Hristian life. In her treatise, The Dialogue, she describes the unquenchable love God has for us and his deep desire that we accept this and share it with our neighbour.
“God said: I have placed you in the midst of your fellows so that you may do to them what you cannot do to Me – that is, so that you may love your neighbour freely without expecting any return from him. And what you do to him I count as done to Me.”
What is my response today? Do I love my neighbour as myself?
Small steps: pray harder and let go of the need to be ‘right’ or in control or critical. If you ask my family and friends they’d agree, ‘she’s a long way off yet!’