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.
B ack in the 1970's and 80's some preachers and teachers added a third great commandment to the Lord's solemn pronouncement. They proclaimed, "You shall love yourself!" They had met a lot of people who seemed to loathe themselves, and they reasoned that you cannot love God or anyone else unless you love yourself first.
Hello? When people got that message, they blew right past the first and second great commandments but excelled in the third. Loving themselves with God's go-ahead! they found they had no need to love anyone else, much less the same God who might not exist. They were really quite content; and "Whether I'm right, or whether I'm wrong, I gotta be me." I have been told on good authority that the most popular song for memorial services – and many Christian memorial services – in the United States is, Old Blue Eyes; "I did it my way."
Others, agreeing that the second commandment is very important -- "Love your neighbor as yourself," -- insist that God does not need to be loved -- which is true -- and therefore we should not concern ourselves about the love of God. Humanism devotes itself to the love of fellow human beings, or animals, or the Earth. And then burnout happens, and they realize their sacrifice is neither appreciated nor reciprocated. Their efforts to feed the hungry and shelter the homeless are poured into an ungrateful, bottomless abyss; they and their energies disappear without a trace.
Our Christian, religious faith teaches us first to love God...
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
That is, in some measure, we must reciprocate the superabundant love and mercy the Lord has shown to us. No one can outdo the generosity of God. And even our love for God is a gift he gives to us. We cannot begin to love God if he does not love us first; that is, if he had not poured out his Holy Spirit to awaken and enable our grateful reply. Only in the unqualified, unlimited, unabashed love of God can we begin to love our neighbors as ourselves, or our unremarkable selves.
That first Great Commandment encounters a powerful resistance in this world, not unlike that which Saint Michael encountered:
Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon.
The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it. (Rev 12:7-9)
That last verse explains a lot of our distress: the serpent and its angels were thrown down to earth where we live. But we recognize the serpent, that old tempter who chatted with our Mother Eve there in the Garden. He's grown in size since then, and became a dragon; but his enormous power collapses at the name of Jesus. It is he who insists you should love yourself first and ignore the other commandments.
November is upon us, that apocalyptic month when we contemplate "death and judgment, heaven and hell." These mysteries remind us that we are the people who live like our God in the past, the present, and the future. We do not forget who we are, where we are, or where we're going. We do not forget who once gave his life for us. We remember the one who still gives us his flesh to eat and his blood to drink during this apparently endless time of temptation. We do not forget the resurrection he enjoys, nor the company of the saints -- our spiritual ancestors -- who live with him in eternity. We keep faith with the past, we love in the present; and, remembering always God’s promise of everlasting life, we await a future of vindication and victory, of mercy and justice for all.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.