Sunday Reflection, November 5: BEING the Great Commandment

Scripture Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/110506.shtml
Deuteronomy 6: 2-6
Psalm 18
Hebrews 7: 23-28
Mark 12: 28b-34

“Love God above all things, and love your neighbor as yourself." So….what’s new? We have heard this a thousand times. That might be our initial reaction to the Gospel reading for this Sunday. Asked by the scribe to give the first of all the commandments, Jesus responds as a faithful, observant Jew of the first century. He welds together two classic texts from the Hebrew Scriptures. The first is from Deuteronomy and is usually known as the “Shema” – the prayer that faithful Jews prayed daily: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” If you attend a synagogue service today, you still hear this prayer sung in Hebrew with great feeling and devotion. The second commandment is taken from Leviticus: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  The novelty in Jesus’ answer is his placing these two commandments together and making them one commandment. While neither or these can be substituted for the other, Christians can never separate love of God and love of neighbor. They are forever joined together.

While we may have heard this great commandment of Jesus “a thousand times,” this teaching is one that should not just be read as words on a page or listened to as an ethical maxim. It is a teaching that needs to be experienced, witnessed, and lived in order for its truth to sink in. Just talking about the meaning of this commandment is like trying to describe to someone how to ride a bicycle or throw a football, or how good a movie is. You have to actually do it, or see it for yourself, to know what it really means.

When Jesus spoke about the unity of these two commandments of love of God and love of neighbor, it would have made sense to his hearers. It would have made sense not simply because of his sublime wisdom and knowledge of the Jewish tradition. Not merely because he was someone who could offer wise answers to difficult questions. It would have hit home because Jesus himself embodied this great commandment. He lived it. His entire way of life was one, single, stirring movement of love, of going out of himself to God, whom he called “Abba,” and going beyond himself in love to others. It would have made sense because when Jesus retired to quiet places to pray, as the Gospels tell us he did, he came forth from that prayer to meet the hungry, thirsty, searching crowds with great compassion. And these two activities were not two separate compartments of his life. They were Jesus’ one life, his one life of faithful, committed love of his Father and of his sisters and brothers. His answer to the scribe’s question would have made sense because when he talked so eloquently about how God is so close to us, so present to us, he acted out that presence in moments like his encounter with the blind Bartimaeus that we heard about in last Sunday’s gospel. He stopped for this impoverished blind man who cried out to him and said: “What do you want me to do for you?” The great commandment of love uttered from the lips of Jesus was convincing and compelling because he lived it. It formed the pattern of his life.

Perhaps we have been blessed enough in our own lives to know people who showed us this commandment in action. People who taught us by example that love for God and love of neighbor are inextricably linked.  I think of a woman who used to come regularly to our Passionist retreat house in New York City, where I worked for a number of years. Theresa has cerebral palsy, lives alone in a poor section of the city, and barely scrapes by on a very limited income. She is a person who truly loves God – with her heart and her strength. And she is someone, who despite her misfortunes, is always thinking of others and is unfailingly kind. When she would leave the retreat house after a weekend or an evening program, she would leave behind an envelope with me with a card promising prayers and a few dollars to help someone in need. It is the Theresas of the world who teach us the meaning and significance of Jesus’ commandment of love.

Jesus tells us that we should love our neighbors as ourselves. The last part of that sentence is pretty important. There are so many experiences in life that can lead us to feel that we don’t amount to much, we are not as good as others, we are not really worth loving. And, whether we are young or old, the pressure to fit in with everyone else is a pressure that says that if you don’t do this (whatever “this” may be), you will not be considered worthwhile. The Gospel for this Sunday suggests that each of us needs to be able to look into the mirror and to see someone who is of great dignity, who has been created by God and who is loved deeply by God. If we cannot love ourselves, we will find it very tough to love God or to love anyone else. We will be so busy inside disliking ourselves and putting ourselves down that we will not have the time or energy to love anyone else. The more deeply we recognize Christ’s love for us, the freer we are to love him and to love others generously.

Maybe the question and the prayer for all of us at liturgy this weekend should be: Are we willing to be this great commandment in person? Or, at least willing to strive to be that? Are we willing to demonstrate its truth to others in a convincing, compelling way by the movement, the rhythm of our lives? In the Eucharist, we remember that Jesus freely gave his own life for us on a cross because he loved his Father and because he loves each one of us more than we will ever know. We also remember that God raised him from the dead because, in fact, love is stronger than anything, even death itself.

Robin Ryan, CP