HOMILY - FRIDAY THIRD WEEK OF LENT
MARCH 24, 20178:45 AM ORDINARY FORM MASS (ASSORTED GRADES)
In today's Gospel, Jesus is asked, Which is the first of the commandments?
We like to be in first place, to win. And we like to prioritize what we do, choosing our favorite things, foods, games, or books in priority positions.
So, Jesus quotes a Jewish prayer – the Sh'ma (שְׁמַע) prayer.
But that's not a commandment? Is it?
Prayer can be thought of as our conversation with God, demonstrating our love for God.
But Jesus expands prayer to a commandment that covers loving God, loving our neighbor, and loving ourselves. Sometimes those can be difficult; sometimes they can be easy.
Jesus calls us to do it with out whole heart, our whole mind, our whole soul, and our whole strength.
That is, Jesus calls us to love God with everything we've got. And to love our neighbor and ourselves the same way – putting our whole being into loving.
In this way, we can be like God whose being is love.
Jesus also gives us the means to do this: Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, and all the sacraments; give us the grace we need to go above and beyond our own limitations and love like God loves.
Let us pray that we might better use the graces of the sacraments we have received, and the sacraments we desire to receive in a way that allows us to love God more and more, and to love each other – and ourselves – as God loves us.
