Homily for March 9, 2018.
“And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You
are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And after that no one dared to ask him
any question.” Mark 12:34.
Reading through the Gospels, we are not used to seeing Jesus commend the
scribes and Pharisees but today we hear Jesus say to a scribe that he is not
far from the kingdom of God. What makes us close to heaven? Our ability to
understand God and what he demands of us. The scribe showed this understanding
and Jesus praised him.
In their conversation, the Scribe had asked Jesus which is the first
commandment. In other words, which of the commandments deserves the highest
priority. And in response, Jesus said: “To love God with all your heart, soul
and mind” and quickly Jesus added the second which is “to love your neighbour
as yourself.”
In other words, 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?”
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.
Love is Sacrifice. Love is not a feeling. Many times, we use the word “love”
without reflecting on its real meaning. If I say I love God, I am saying that I
will give to give everything away for God, that I will sacrifice my idols, my
money, my position, my pleasures, even my very life for God. It will be a
contradiction, if I still commit a sin when I say I love God.
Again, if I love my neighbour, it means I am ready to sacrifice
everything for the sake of my fellow human beings just as Jesus sacrificed his
life for our salvation. It will be a contradiction if I say I love my neighbours
and I still bear hatred and grudge in mind towards my fellow brothers and
sisters. If I don’t wish others well and look for ways to bring them down, I am
not loving them as myself.
What made Jesus to really praise the Scribe is because the Scribe said “to
love our neighbour as ourselves is much more than all whole burnt offerings and
sacrifices.” It is in this light that Jesus said if we are bringing our
offerings to the altar and remember that our brother has something against us,
we should leave our gifts there, go and first be reconciled before coming to
make our offerings to God.
Loving our neighbours in the real sense of the word is a whole lot of
sacrifice. It is not easy to wish people well when they themselves do not wish
us well, it is not easy to be nice and kind to people who are not nice to us. It
is not easy to speak well about people who have clearly shown their hatred
towards us. At times, we fell that people deserve to be ignored, insulted or made
to experience pain because of their actions. But this very fact is what
distinguishes us as Christians or pagans.
If we fight those who fight us, we are not different from pagans. If we
cannot sacrifice our feelings like the Good Samaritan (who stopped to help his
enemy, a Jew seeing that his life was in danger), our worship of God is in
vain. Loving our neighbour is sacrifice, it is painful but it is our worship.
Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, I surrender all to you. 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 14:2-10 and Mark 12:28-34).
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