Homily for March 24, 2017.
In today’s Gospel passage, a Scribe asked Jesus: “Which commandment is
first of all?” By this he meant, which commandment is the most important among
all the other commandments?
In response, Jesus said, you shall the Lord your God with all your
heart, soul and strength and you shall love your neighbour as yourself. Whenever
we are confused in life and we are trying to make a decision, or we want God to
speak to us, we must first ask: “Will what I am about to do reflect love for
God and my neighbour?”
If only we all lived according to this first command, our world will be
a better place to be and humanity as a whole will have less problems. But it is
not a matter of what others are doing, it is a matter of what I as an
enlightened Christian is doing. Am I loving God as I should? Or am I loving my
neighbour to the best of my ability?
The prophet Hosea speaks to us today in our first reading: “Return to
the Lord your God” that is to say, leave your idols, stop worshiping other gods
and come back to God.
Today money, position, prestige, pleasure etc. have become gods
struggling for our worship. Each time we put the things of this world before
God, each time we consent to sin because of these things we are serving idols.
As the Scribe added later on, to love our neighbour as ourselves is much
more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And for this, Jesus
commended him. It is not easy to treat people exactly the way you love to be
treated; at times, we feel that people deserve to be ignored, insulted or made
to experience pain because of their actions.
But then, each time we treat people well despite whatever we feel about
them, we are actually making a sacrifice to God; a sacrifice more pleasing than
that which Abel offered; a sacrifice even better than all those we read about
in the Old Testament.
Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, help me to love you and my neighbour as myself.
Amen.
Be Happy.
Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Friday of the 3rd Week of Lent. Bible
Study: Hosea 14:1-9 and Mark 2:28-34).
Fr. Abu.
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