Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be.” (Matthew 6:19-23)
Reflection
There are treasures that glitter for a moment and treasures that glow for a lifetime. Jesus names the difference with a simplicity that disarms us: some things shine, but only a few things illuminate.
We spend years stacking what can be counted — the promotions, the possessions, the applause — only to discover how quickly moth and rust find their way into even the most guarded places.
But there is another kind of wealth, quiet and unhurried, that grows in the hidden rooms of the heart. It does not shout. It does not demand. It simply endures.
Jesus calls it treasure, but it feels more like clarity — the kind that steadies a person when the world tilts sideways.
And then He speaks of the eye, the lamp of the body — as if to say: your life will always move in the direction of your gaze.
A fractured focus fractures the soul. A divided eye divides the whole person. But a clear eye — an eye set on what is true, what is whole, what is quietly eternal — fills the entire being with light.
In a world of flashing distractions and endless invitations to chase what fades, Jesus’ words fall like a gentle correction: Choose what lasts. Choose what steadies. Choose what brings light.
For the heart becomes what it treasures, and the life becomes what it sees.
Prayer of The Day
“Lord, turn my gaze toward what endures. Quiet the noise that scatters my attention. Fill the inner rooms of my heart with the kind of light that cannot be dimmed by circumstance. Teach me to treasure what is real and to release what is only passing through.”
Daily Note
The treasures of heaven are not distant; they are simply the things that remain when everything temporary falls away. Light, clarity, integrity, peace — these are the riches no thief can touch and no time can erode.
Jesus said to his disciples: “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. This is how you are to pray: ‘Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’ If you forgive men their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.” (Matthew 6:7-15)
Reflection
There’s a pattern in the spiritual life that we rarely talk about, but it shows up everywhere once you see it: God often begins His deepest work in the exact places we resist Him the most.
We think spiritual growth happens in the areas where we’re already willing, already open, already cooperative. But the truth is far more uncomfortable — and far more hopeful.
Look at the stories across Scripture: God calls people precisely where they feel unprepared. He asks for surrender in the places we cling the tightest. He invites transformation in the rooms of the heart we keep locked.
Moses resisted his calling. Jonah resisted compassion. Peter resisted forgiveness. Paul resisted mercy. Even the prophets resisted the weight of their own voices.
And yet — those were the very places God began.
Why? Because resistance is not a sign of failure. It’s a sign of where the healing is needed.
The place you avoid is the place that aches. The place that aches is the place that’s unfinished. The place that’s unfinished is the place God is already touching.
We often pray for strength, clarity, peace — but we pray from the safe zones. God answers from the fault lines.
He doesn’t wait for us to be ready. He meets us where we’re stuck.
He doesn’t wait for us to be willing. He works in the places we’re afraid to open.
He doesn’t wait for us to be whole. He begins in the fractures.
And maybe that’s the invitation for tomorrow:
To stop treating resistance as a spiritual flaw and start seeing it as a spiritual map.
Where you resist forgiving — that’s where God wants to free you. Where you resist trusting — that’s where God wants to steady you. Where you resist letting go — that’s where God wants to heal you. Where you resist becoming — that’s where God wants to begin.
Prayer of The Day
” Lord, meet me in the middle of my becoming. Not when I’m polished, but when I’m honest. Shape me in the places that are still unfinished. Walk with me as I grow into who You made me to be.”
Daily Note
I don’t have to be finished to be found. God meets me right where I am — and walks with me the rest of the way.
Jesus said to his disciples: “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. “When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to others to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.” (Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18)
Reflection
There is something deeply human about wanting to be seen, valued, and affirmed. We long to matter. We long to be appreciated. And without realizing it, we often begin to measure our worth by the reactions, opinions, and approval of others. Jesus knows this about us. He knows how easily the desire to be noticed can slip into our spiritual lives and distort even the holiest of practices.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks directly to this vulnerability. He names three pillars of spiritual life — giving, praying, and fasting — and then goes straight to the heart of the matter: motivation. Not the action itself, but the why behind it.
“Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them.” This is not a condemnation of good works. It is a call to purity of heart.
Jesus is inviting us to step away from the performative, the public, the curated image of holiness. He is asking us to rediscover the sacredness of the hidden place — the place where only God sees, only God knows, only God receives.
Because when our spiritual life becomes a performance, the applause becomes our reward. But when our spiritual life becomes a relationship, God becomes our reward.
Jesus’ teaching is not meant to shame us. It is meant to free us. Free us from comparison. Free us from the exhausting need to impress. Free us from the illusion that our worth is tied to how others perceive us.
He invites us into the “inner room,” the quiet space where we can be fully ourselves — unpolished, unguarded, unperformed. It is there, in the hidden places, that God meets us. It is there that our hearts are shaped. It is there that our motivations are purified.
And this is where the Gospel becomes deeply personal.
Every one of us has moments when we act or speak in ways designed to win approval. Every one of us has felt the pressure to appear more spiritual, more put‑together, more admirable than we truly are. But Jesus is not asking for perfection. He is asking for honesty.
He is asking us to let Him see us as we are — because He already does.
When we give quietly, we learn generosity without ego. When we pray privately, we learn intimacy without performance. When we fast without drawing attention, we learn discipline without pride.
These hidden practices shape the heart. They anchor us in God rather than in the shifting opinions of others. They remind us that our worth is not earned — it is given. It is bestowed by the One who sees in secret and loves without condition.
And then Jesus gives us the line that unlocks the entire teaching: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
If our treasure is admiration, our heart will always be restless. If our treasure is God, our heart will always be at home.
The invitation today is simple but profound: Return to the hidden place. Let God be enough. Let love be the motivation. Let the secret life with God become the treasure that shapes your heart.
Prayer of the Day
The Lord rewards those who seek Him with humble and sincere hearts. Each day He renews us, reshapes us, and gives us new hearts of compassion so that we may serve Him and our neighbor with joy. If you desire to grow in love — for God and for others — begin in the quiet place where God sees, knows, and loves you
Daily Note
The Lord rewards those who seek Him with humble and sincere hearts. Each day He renews us, reshapes us, and gives us new hearts of compassion so that we may serve Him and our neighbor with joy. If you desire to grow in love — for God and for others — begin in the quiet place where God sees, knows, and loves you.
You have heard that it was said, `You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5: 43-48)
Reflection
This Gospel is all about healing? It is? Yes.
So, let’s start with a focus on some key attributes.
“Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Sometimes we can be thrown off by the word “perfect” and think that Jesus is calling us to an unachievable standard, because after all, none of us is perfect, none of us will ever be perfect, and therefore if God is calling us never to make a mistake, then he’s calling us to something beyond human capacity.
When we are called to be “perfect,” we need to understand the Aramaic meaning of the word.
The original meaning of “perfect” in Aramaic is “completeness” or “wholeness – not lacking in what is essential.” God gives us every good gift in Jesus Christ so that we may not lack anything we need to do his will and to live as his sons and daughters (2 Peter 1:3). He knows our weakness and sinfulness better than we do. And he assures us of his love, mercy, and grace so that we can be whole.
Our love for others, even those who are ungrateful and selfish towards us, must be marked by the same kindness and mercy which God has shown to us. It is easier to show kindness and mercy when we can expect to benefit from doing so. How much harder when we can expect nothing in return. Our prayer for those who do us ill both breaks the power of revenge and releases the power of love to do good in the face of evil.
We really can’t become children of God until we start behaving like God. We can’t experience the interior revolution to which Jesus is calling us and unless we seek to act as his children, to behave like Jesus who shows us how to live as a Son or Daughter of God.
Just as God the Father loves everyone and does good to everyone, including those who curse him, including those who make themselves his enemy through sin and an evil life, Jesus calls us to do the same, to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us, to walk the second mile, to give our cloak as well as our tunic, to give generously to all those who need to borrow.
We’re called to love like God loves us. On the other hand, we cannot be like God the Father when we don’t love others enough to forgive them when they hurt us, to pray for them when they persecute us, to sacrifice for them when they’re in need, to avoid all vengeance against them when they strike us on our cheek or otherwise hurt or offend us.
It’s in the praying for those who have hurt us that the healing begins. After all, how can you hate someone when you are praying for that person?
Jesus is summoning us to order our lives to the same purpose and same goal as God the Father, to mature to full stature, to achieve the end for which we were made, which is to be fully in the image and likeness of God, to be holy as God is holy, to love like God loves, to be merciful as he is merciful, to behave truly as children of our Father.
I am not there yet but I am going to keep on trying.
Prayer of The Day
“Lord Jesus, Your love alone makes the heart whole. Fill me with Your Spirit so deeply that nothing steals my peace, nothing poisons my joy, and nothing hardens my heart toward anyone. Make me merciful as You are merciful, so I may live as a true child of the Father.”
Daily Note
To become whole, we need to follow Jesus Christ not just partially, not just at a distance, not just picking-and-choosing the parts of his teaching that don’t require a radical change on our part, but up close, fully, totally. The whole Sermon on the Mount, as we see in the Beatitudes with which Jesus begins it, is meant to lead us to true happiness, to true spiritual perfection as sons and daughters of God. But we need to grasp that God’s plan for our life is far more than our becoming merely “good people” like the pagans he describes who love those who love them and who do good to those who are good to them. God’s plans for us is for us to become fully his children by behaving like him, by loving like him. And to help us in this task, he gives us himself.
Jesus said to his disciples: “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court. Otherwise, your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.” (Matthew 5: 20-26)
Reflection
Jesus doesn’t mince words here. He looks at His disciples and says something that must have stunned them:
“Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees…”
In other words:
“You can’t just look holy. You have to be transformed.”
The Pharisees mastered the externals — the rules, the rituals, the optics. But Jesus is after something deeper, something far more demanding:
A heart that has been reshaped by love.
That’s why He goes straight to anger. Not murder. Not violence. Not the catastrophic outcomes.
He goes to the spark.
Because Jesus knows: Sin doesn’t begin with the act — it begins with the attitude. The quiet resentment. The unspoken contempt. The simmering anger we think we can manage on our own.
Jesus isn’t tightening the law. He’s revealing its true depth:
Holiness begins where no one else can see.
And then He gives us the path:
If you’re angry, reconcile.
If you’ve wounded someone, go repair it.
If there’s division, bridge it before you stand before God.
Not because God needs our perfection, but because love cannot flourish in a divided heart.
This is the righteousness Jesus calls us to — not performative, not external, not rule‑based, but a righteousness born from a heart aligned with His own. It’s harder. It’s deeper. It’s more honest. And it’s the only path that leads to real freedom.
Jesus is telling us:
“Don’t just avoid the fire. Deal with the spark.”
That’s the work of discipleship — the quiet, interior work that transforms the way we live, speak, forgive, and love.
Prayer of The Day
“Lord Jesus, reshape my heart so that my righteousness begins where Yours begins — in love. Heal the anger I carry, soften the places that resist reconciliation, and make my heart a place where Your peace can take root.”
Daily Note
Anger is loud, but reconciliation is holy. And holiness always begins with the courage to say:
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-19)
Reflection
When Jesus says He came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it, He isn’t tightening the rules — He’s revealing the heart behind them.
Jesus isn’t raising the bar. He reveals the bar was always love.
The Law was never meant to be a checklist. It was meant to be a compass — pointing us toward the kind of life that reflects God’s heart.
And Jesus steps into history and says: “Watch Me. This is what the Law looks like when it’s alive.”
Not rigid. Not cold. Not transactional. But love embodied — love that heals, restores, forgives, and transforms.
That’s why He warns us not to loosen even the smallest commandment. Not because God is keeping score, but because every commandment is a doorway into becoming more like Him.
The danger isn’t breaking the rules. The danger is shrinking the life God is trying to grow in us.
Fulfillment isn’t about perfection. It’s about alignment.
When your heart aligns with Christ, your life begins to echo His — in your choices, your tone, your patience, your mercy, your courage.
This is not a one‑day conversion. It’s a long obedience in the same direction. A daily “yes” to becoming who God already sees in you.
Jesus doesn’t ask us to admire the Law. He asks us to embody it — to let love become the shape of our lives.
And when we do, even imperfectly, we become living proof that God’s commandments aren’t burdens. They’re pathways to freedom.
Prayer of The Day
“Lord Jesus, align my heart with Yours. Shape my thoughts, my words, and my actions so they reflect the love You fulfilled perfectly. Let obedience become joy, and let my life become a small but faithful echo of Your own.”
Daily Note
St. Irenaeus said, “The glory of God is a living man.”
A living man is one whose life is shaped by the One who fulfilled the Law. When we let Christ’s love animate us, we don’t just follow commandments — we become living signs of God’s presence in the world.
Jesus said to his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” (Matthew 5:13-16)
Reflection
Every one of us has spent time wondering what God wants of us. Some have done it while discerning a vocation. Others have done it in quiet moments of faith. Still others have asked the simple but profound question: “What could God possibly want from me?”
Today’s Gospel gives the answer with striking clarity. Jesus calls every Christian — not a select few, not the spiritually elite — to be an influence on the world around them. He names that influence with two images: salt and light.
Salt enhances flavor and preserves what is good. To “be salt” means to intentionally shape the lives around us through the unconditional love of Christ expressed in concrete good deeds.
Light reveals what is true. To “be light” means to witness openly to the truth of God’s Word — especially the truth of who Christ is and how He died and rose for our salvation.
But Jesus goes further. He reminds us that it is not enough to be good — we must be seen to be good. The spirituality of the Gospel is not private comfort or inner tranquility. It is outreaching, public, missionary. We are not only disciples; we are proclaimers. We are called to set the world ablaze with the light of Christ.
And here is the deeper layer: Jesus does not say, “Try to become salt” or “Try to be light.” He says: “You are the salt of the earth.” “You are the light of the world.”
This is not a task. It is an identity — something rooted in who we are as followers of Christ.
Salt only fails when it loses its distinctiveness. Light only fails when it is hidden. So the danger is not that Christians will be ineffective. The danger is that Christians will become indistinguishable.
The Gospel is not asking us to “do more.” It is asking us to become visible.
Visible in mercy. Visible in courage. Visible in compassion. Visible in integrity. Visible in the way we treat the vulnerable. Visible in the way we carry hope into dark places.
Our job is not to change people. Our job is to change ourselves so that our lives radiate a goodness others cannot help but notice.
That goodness does not need to be dramatic. It only needs to be real.
When we help an elderly woman with her groceries, our light shines. When we speak to the classmate others ignore, the world brightens. When we visit a grieving neighbor — cookies in hand, compassion in heart — the kingdom of God inches closer.
Jesus tells us we are the light of the world not because we transform others, but because our light gives God room to transform them. That is why we shine. That is why we are sent. That is why this Gospel still matters.
Prayer of The Day
“Lord Jesus Christ, You have commanded us to be the Light of the World and the Salt of the Earth. Give us strength, courage, and humility so that our lives may reflect Your goodness and draw others closer to You. Amen.”
Daily Note
Jesus is the true light of the world, and we reflect His light only by following Him. It is not enough to know His teachings — we must walk as He walked, love as He loved, and care as He cares. When we follow Him, our lives become a lamp for others, guiding them along the same path of light that Christ Himself walks before us.
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. (Matthew 5:1-12a)
Reflection
When Jesus climbs the mountain and sits down, He is not simply teaching — He is revealing the heart of God. The Beatitudes are not advice, not ideals, not spiritual slogans. They are the portrait of Christ Himself, and therefore the blueprint for every disciple who wants to follow Him.
Jesus begins with those the world overlooks: the poor, the grieving, the meek, the hungry. Not because suffering is holy, but because need creates space for God. The rich can forget Him. The powerful can ignore Him. But the poor — in spirit or circumstance — know that without God, they have nothing. And that honesty becomes the doorway to blessing.
Those who mourn are blessed not because grief is good, but because God draws near to the brokenhearted. Those who hunger for righteousness are blessed because they refuse to make peace with a world that is less than God’s dream. Those who are merciful, pure in heart, and peacemakers are blessed because they are living out the very character of Christ.
And then Jesus does something astonishing: He blesses the persecuted. Not because persecution is noble, but because when the world resists the Kingdom, it reveals just how different the Kingdom truly is.
The Beatitudes show us a God who lifts up the lowly, who stands with the oppressed, who refuses to abandon those who struggle. This is the God Jesus reveals — a God who is not impressed by power, not seduced by wealth, not blinded by success.
And if this is who God is, then two things must mark the life of every disciple:
Hope — because God meets us in our poverty, our grief, our hunger, our struggle. Solidarity — because God stands with the poor, the wounded, and the forgotten, and we cannot claim to follow Him while standing anywhere else.
The Beatitudes are not a list of virtues. They are an invitation: See the world as God sees it. Love the world as Christ loves it. Stand where Jesus stands.
This is the life of the Kingdom. This is the life of the disciple. This is the life Jesus blesses.
Prayer of The Day
“Lord Jesus, You call me to holiness and to the happiness that only You can give. Open my eyes to see where true blessing lies. Give me the courage to reject the false promises of the world and to desire only the life that leads me to You.”
Daily Note
Jesus never drives us like cattle. He leads us like a shepherd. He does not force us into the Kingdom — He draws us with the sound of His voice. The Beatitudes are that voice: gentle, steady, unmistakable. They call us not to perfection, but to trust — to follow Him into a life shaped by mercy, justice, humility, and hope.
As Jesus was teaching in the temple area he said, “How do the scribes claim that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said: ‘The Lord said to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies under your feet.”’ David himself calls him ‘lord’; so how is he his son?” The great crowd heard this with delight. (Mark 12:35-37)
Reflection
There’s a moment in today’s Gospel that feels startlingly modern. Jesus stands before people who think they already know Him. They’ve reduced Him to a category: son of David, teacher, rabbi — interesting, but nothing more. Then Jesus asks the question that breaks their frame:
“If David calls Him Lord, how can He be merely his son?”
He isn’t arguing. He isn’t trying to win a debate. He’s revealing a truth they never imagined:
He is more than they expected.More than they allowed.More than they were willing to see.
And the people — the ordinary people — “heard Him with delight.” That line reaches straight into modern life. Because we live in a world that shrinks everything: our attention. our relationships, our sense of self. even our understanding of God
We scroll past people. We scroll past ourselves. We scroll past God. And without realizing it, we reduce Jesus too: to a comforting idea ,to a Sunday obligation ,to a moral compass, to a background presence we acknowledge but rarely engage
But Jesus still asks the same question today:
“Why do you keep shrinking Me down?Why do you let the noise of life define what I can be for you?”
The people in the Gospel delighted in Him because, for one moment, they saw Him as He truly is — not reduced, not simplified, not managed — but Lord. And here’s the truth that meets us in 2026:
We don’t delight in God because we don’t give Him enough space to be God.
We give Him: leftover minutes, distracted prayers. half‑attention.
And then we wonder why we don’t feel anything.
But when we give Him room — even a little — He breaks the frame again. He becomes more than we expected. More than we allowed. More than we thought we needed. And suddenly, He shows up in the places we thought were too ordinary: in the person we overlooked, in the moment we rushed past, in the ache we tried to ignore, in the quiet that finally caught up with us.
That’s where delight begins. Not in understanding everything, but in recognizing Him again. The same Lord David saw. The same Lord who stood in the temple. The same Lord who stands beside us now.
If we let Him be more than we expect,He becomes more than we ever imagined.
Prayer of The Day
“Lord Jesus, You are more than my expectations, more than my categories, more than my limited understanding. Break open the small places in my heart where I have reduced You. Be my Lord — in my thoughts, my choices, my relationships, my work, and my quiet moments. Let me recognize You again, and delight in Your presence.”
Daily Note
To call Jesus “Lord” is not a title — it’s a surrender. Everyone serves something: ambition, fear, distraction, comfort, control. Only one Lord sets us free.
Where have I reduced Him — and where is He asking to be Lord again?
One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” 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. There is no other commandment greater than these.” The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, ‘He is One and there is no other than he.’ And ‘to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself’ is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding, he said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And no one dared to ask him any more questions. (Mark 12:28-34)
Reflection
This declaration of God’s unity and call to love God with all our being and to love our neighbor as our self is still central in Jewish worship today. It is called the “Shema” — Hebrew for “Hear!” — because God has a message for us that will make the difference between life and death.
Jesus stresses the commandment to love God, and to love our neighbor. It is the one love. All others come from that. We need to say this often to ourselves lest we forget it.
It is a love which is based on giving everyone their due, their rights and genuine care. Think of the great mortal loves in your life. When we are in love, we know our priorities — we know each day how we will devote our time and talents. And when we are in love, we find time to nourish our relationship. So now let’s take the big leap with thought and talk about its extension in our daily life.
God loves each person individually and calls us to let ourselves be built into a spiritual house. He wants us to reflect on our response to him through our holiness and offering of self to him. He is a personal God and we experience his touch in the presence of Jesus. Christian love requires of us to root out of our hearts and minds these distorted perceptions and to convert our hearts and minds to a true and compassionate love of God and of others.
But love is also demanding. To love means to go beyond ourselves, truly to face another person, to rise above our own need, to stretch out to someone, to see the faces of those who desperately need our love, to risk discomfort, to give our time and energy and indeed to give ourselves to others. Love involves total giving and sacrificing oneself. It is true that love has to do with feelings, but it has far more to do with commitment, challenge and letting go. Wholehearted loving does not stop at any time and it cannot be done with. It has to do with being there for the other. Further, without being loved it is impossible to love.
During this time of turmoil, it is imperative that we remember that to interfere with a person’s life is interfering with God’s rights and disobeying his command. Our neighbor is created in the image and likeness of God. It is God who gave us our existence and every gift we possess. All that we have and possess we owe to his love and generosity. That is why it is necessary for us to love him, honor his name and respect his presence in the lives of others.
If one does not have love, he has nothing. If one spends his time in prayer but cannot show love towards his neighbor, he does not have true love in him, nor does God abide in him.
Prayer of The Day
“We love you, Lord; and we desire to love you more and more. Grant to us that we may love you as much as we desire, and as much as we ought. Give us in our hearts pure love, born of your love to us, that we may love others as you love us.”
Daily Note
For God is love and those who abide in love abide in God. They care about their neighbors. They reach out to them. They support them. They encourage them to persevere. If we obey the two Commandments of love, our daily communion with God is being perfected through Christ, with Christ and in Christ. If we obey the two Commandments of love, we are not far from the Kingdom of God.
