Friday, February 29, 2008

Loving God First

And there came one of the scribes that had heard them reasoning together, and seeing that he had answered them well, asked him which was the first commandment of all. And Jesus answered him: the first commandment of all is, Hear, O Israel: the Lord thy God is one God.
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength. This is the first commandment.

And the second is like to it: thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said to him: well, Master, thou hast said in truth, that there is one God, and there is no other besides him. And that he should be loved with the whole heart, and with the whole understanding, and with the whole soul, and with the whole strength; and to love one's neighbour as one's self, is a greater thing than all holocausts and sacrifices. And Jesus seeing that he had answered wisely, said to him: thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.
Mark 12:28-34 (Douay-Rheims Bible)

Prayer Reflection

Dear Father I think I have always loved this particular reading from the Gospel. To love you with all of our being, it's so powerful to realize the truth of this. How can we not love you, you do so very much for us in our day. It is us who refuses to see your love and most especially your guiding hand in our lives. By the people who often cross our paths day to day. Through the circumstances that may be good or not so good, your love and hand are there. Why is it so very hard to love you first then. People fall in love everyday with other people, that's not so hard to do. So again the question is: why is it so hard for us to love God first in our lives? Some might give the excuse that we cannot see you or touch you. Some may go so far as to say that why should they, what have you done for them. Their belief is often in other people but not in you. Sometimes they seek adulation and recognition from others, but it is what you think about us that is important, since when our life is over and we go on to our eternity, it is your judgement of how well we loved you and ourselves and others that will count.

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