Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 152
Reading I
Moses spoke to the people, saying:
"Fear the LORD, your God,
and keep, throughout the days of your lives,
all his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you,
and thus have long life.
Hear then, Israel, and be careful to observe them,
that you may grow and prosper the more,
in keeping with the promise of the LORD, the God of your fathers,
to give you a land flowing with milk and honey.
"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is
our God, the LORD alone!
Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God,
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your strength.
Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today."
Responsorial Psalm
R. (2) I love
you, Lord, my strength.
I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,
and I am safe from my enemies.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
The LORD lives! And blessed be my rock!
Extolled be God my savior.
You who gave great victories to your king
and showed kindness to your anointed.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
Reading II
Brothers and sisters:
The levitical priests were many
because they were prevented by death from remaining in office,
but Jesus, because he remains forever,
has a priesthood that does not pass away.
Therefore, he is always able to save those who approach God through him,
since he lives forever to make intercession for them.
It was fitting that we should have
such a high priest:
holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners,
higher than the heavens.
He has no need, as did the high priests,
to offer sacrifice day after day,
first for his own sins and then for those of the people;
he did that once for all when he offered himself.
For the law appoints men subject to weakness to be high priests,
but the word of the oath, which was taken after the law,
appoints a son,
who has been made perfect forever.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord;
and my father will love him and we will come to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
One of the scribes came to Jesus and
asked him,
"Which is the first of all the commandments?"
Jesus replied, "The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these."
The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
'He is One and there is no other than he.'
And 'to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding,
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself'
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
"You are not far from the kingdom of God."
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
It may be confusing to some of us that we can fear God and love Him at the same time. There are many who would say that the fear of God comes from the vengeful, angry God described in the Old Testament while the love for God comes from the merciful, loving, personal God presented by Jesus in The New Testament. This is too simple of an answer and dismisses God’s love for us and His longing to enter into relationship with us as described through much of The Prophetic Books (especially Isaiah) and The Psalms. It also doesn’t consider the acts of forgiveness and God’s willingness to dismiss our past as the past with a focus on the present and future. Love has always been central to our existence and God’s relationship with us. The fear of God is joined with the love we are supposed to have for God. A genuine fear of God is the one that a child has in disappointing its father. It is a fear of not living up to expectations and a wanting to please. If we truly love God, recognizing Him as our Father, then we should not want to disappoint Him. We should want to please Him by doing what He wants us to do. We should have no fear of repercussions if we do wrong, but only guilt in the fact that we went against His will. If we live our lives trying to please God, while having a healthy fear of not disappointing Him, then we will find ourselves far from sin and close to Him. It is in that closeness that we will find comfort and love.
There is no doubt that living to please God will lead to a long life. Eternity is a long time. Eternity with Him is the ultimate joy. The prosperity that God speaks about has its origins in a satisfaction and acceptance of all things that have its origins in the spiritual. In other words, the value of things from this earth will have no standing in comparison to doing the right thing by God. A right relationship with God will make all other things become secondary. A good life will be measured by the experiences with God and not the material gain obtained. The term, “Whoever dies with the most toys wins,” will have no meaning to us. An instant memory comes to my mind when I think about contentment and satisfaction with a man who loves God:
An older man whom I greatly respect and have known for over 51 years has been living a devout Christian life. He has always put his family first and has made many personal sacrifices to ensure the safety and security of his children and grandchildren. A man of few words, he weighs what he says with great wisdom and forethought. I can never remember a time when he missed Sunday Mass. His days are spent with his family, finding joy in the small things. A perfect evening for him would be a small glass of single malt scotch and a small fire to gaze into for hours with those whom he loves around him. Long life and prosperity exude from his soul. I can envision Jesus sitting next to him, looking into the fire and whispering softly, “Well done good and faithful servant.”
Jesus Christ is the eternal high priest. He did not come to abolish the law, but to bring it to fulfillment. When reiterating what was the greatest commandment, he emphasized this by quoting the Book of Deuteronomy. He also added loving our neighbor as we love ourselves. This is a reminder that everything is done out of love because we were created out of love. There is no room for fear out of punishment, but only fear of disappointing. Like a child who fears disappointing its parents, is how we should act regarding our relationship with God. We should want to make Him proud. We should be crestfallen when we hurt Him, trying ever so hard to win back His approval, all the time knowing that He is encouraging us to do better, cheering us on to do the right thing. The words God spoke through Isaiah come to mind, : “Thus says the Lord: Come, let us set things right. Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow; Though they be crimson red, they may become white as wool.” Notice how God says, “us,” joining Him to us in this effort. How can one fear being hurt by God when all He wants to do is help us do the right thing?
Within The Church Family, each of the faithful serve a particular function. As The Apostle Paul says, “One body, many parts.” He then goes on to describe how each person has a particular function and that each should do their function are prescribed. One should not do something that they were not expected to do. Back in the time of Jesus and for thousands of years before, high priests were expected to offer sacrifice, guidance, and to lead worship. Jesus Christ, being considered a high priest forever, is the ultimate high priest. He gains His authority directly from The Father. His office is undisputed and thus what He says regarding everything should also be considered undisputed. We have no right to go against what He says. That is beyond our function and goes against the body as a whole. When we go against the body only bad things can result. Remaining with God and in His love not only saves us from letting our worst fears come true, disappointing Him, but also risks us not feeling loved. When we don’t feel loved, it is harder for us to love. All God wants us to do is love and be loved. When that happens, only goodness and joy can follow.
Deacon Tom
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