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,
The Scripture Readings today were very powerful and offer a blueprint to proper living. Today in society, there are many problems as there were in the past. There seems to be a pattern to this: Whenever a society falls away from God and ignores His precepts, it goes into decline. We can see that today where about 56% of the population seldom or never attend religious services. This mean 56% of the people do not have a belief system guided by a Higher Power, which is God. So where does leave us in this country? It appears that its moral compass is broken. The Virtues brought to us by Plato, (Wisdom, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance), are no longer followed. Instead, there is encouragement that behaviors and actions that were once abhorred should now be accepted. No examples need to be given. Those who are reading or hearing this should have their own lists running through their heads. When guided by God and by one’s own conscious, the lists should be very similar. The solution is obvious, as brought forth by Moses:
“Therefore,
you shall love the LORD, your God,
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your strength”
When we focus our entire existence on God, who is the perfect good, we are then guided by the perfect good and are less inclined to do bad things. For those who do this, there will be no disagreement regarding what is right and what is wrong. When individuals start to insert their own opinions and self-justifications, the implementation of the Word of God is slowly watered down until there comes a time when it becomes ineffective. Jesus made this point very clear when He reemphasized what Moses said while adding a Second Commandment:
“Love your neighbor as yourself”
What He said formed the foundation of the entire Law and made it the chief cornerstone of how we all should conduct ourselves. The word love being used, which is the greatest of the Theological Virtues, (faith, hope, and love), reminds us all these things should be done out of love and not obligation. It further denotes that the mere presence of love will bring us to a closer contact with God.
How can there be any conflict when we are supposed to love our neighbor? How can there be any violence, pain, or hurt inflicted? It is impossible. As Jesus said, when we understand these things, we are not far from the Kingdom of God.
Unfortunately, this is not enough for some. The pursuit of material things and self-gratification removes love from the equation, causing much suffering. Suffering is not the result of love, but an absence of love. As it is written in the Vatican II documents,
“Peace on earth, born of love for one’s neighbor, is the sign and the effect of the peace of Christ that flows from God the Father.”
Love is the key to peace in our lives and repairs God’s creation which, through our own action, has been disrupted. We who understand this are the only ones who can fix it. Starting with a renewed commitment to Jesus Christ and constant renewal of ourselves, things in our lives will get better as a result. These changes will then flow from the individual outward into society. Of course, there will be resistance from those who refuse to recognize the authority of God, but these actions will be futile against the One who is above all others. There will be conflict, but the ones starting the conflict are the ones on the wrong side. We, as Christian, can be confident we are on the right side when we are following the commandments that have been given to us. This is hard work, but isn’t hard work the key to success?
Deacon Tom
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