The readings on this 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time help us better understand the purpose of God’s law or commandments. The Pharisees prided themselves in the knowledge of the law and their ritual requirements. They made it a life-time practice to study the 613 precepts of the Old Testament along with the numerous rabbinic commentaries. They tested Jesus to see if he correctly understood the law as they did.
Jesus simplified the 613 precepts of the Old Testament and the 10 Commandments into one two fold Commandment of love. The love of God comes first and the love of neighbor is firmly grounded in the love of God.
The love of God comes first because God is love, He loved and loves us first and everything he does flows from his love for us.
The love of neighbor comes after our love of God because it is our response to his love and kindness towards us. It is firmly grounded in the love of God.
So, what does God require of us? Simply that we love as He loves!
However, one of the reasons we haven’t made more progress in this area might have to do with a wrong idea that many of us have. What is it?
We tend to think that loving God and loving our neighbor are two separate activities, as if we love God with one spiritual muscle, which gets a workout when we pray and worship, and that we use a different spiritual muscle to love our neighbor.
The truth, however, about the way Love of God and love of neighbor works, is only understood to the degree we have a mature prayer life.
Christian love for our neighbor requires seeing them the way God sees them, but we can only do that if our mind and heart are full of God’s perspective, which happens through prayer.
Daily meditation of the Most Holy Rosary can help us grow in the Theological Virtue of Charity: today the Glorious Mysteries. Here is an example how we might meditate on the Glorious Mysteries today:
Resurrection: Rise from every kind of death in thought, word and deed. Ascension: One eye on Heaven and one eye on each step we are taking. Descent of the Holy Spirit: Every action be done ever more aware of our interior teacher. Assumption: Try harder each day to do every single thing we do for the Love of God. Coronation of Our Lady as Queen of Heaven: All Graces that rain down upon the earth pass through our Queen Mother’s hands.
So let us try to walk like a child of Jesus and Mary (hand in hand).
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