Friday of the Third Week

Reflection

Today’s readings ask a lot of us and from us.  Jesus isn’t asking us to love God with a lukewarm faith or only when it is convenient.  Jesus asks us to love God the way He did—with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength.  How different the world would be if we loved like that!  How different I would be if I lived like that.  So what’s holding me back?  Vulnerability.  Trust.  Fear of letting go.  But God doesn’t want only half our hearts, only lukewarm Christians.  When we experience and fully accept how much God loves us, we yearn to respond to God’s love with full hearts, souls, minds, and strength…if only we let go of what is holding us back from receiving God’s incredible gift of love, mercy, and compassion.

And asking us to love our neighbors as ourselves is also much needed in our world and within our own lives.  Again I ask myself, what’s holding me back?  Fear of the other.  Insecurity.  Sacrifice.  However, letting go of these things opens me up to seeing God’s image and likeness within those around me.  The commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves has also been expressed in several religious traditions.  In my office, hanging on my wall above my couch, I have a poster drawn by Mary Southard, CSJ that depicts variations of the need to love others as ourselves. Judaism—“What is hateful to you do not do to your neighbor.  That is the entire Torah, the rest is commentary.  Go and learn.” (Rabbi Hillel to Shammai Talmud Shabbat 31A).  Islam—“No one is a believer until you desire for another that which you desire for yourself” (Sunnah). Buddhism—“Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful” (Udanna-Vargu 5:18).  Jainism—“In happiness and suffering, in joy and grief, regard all creatures as you would your own self” (Lord Mahivir 24^th Tirthankara).  There are a few others and in the center of the drawing, it says, “…and who does not want to be treated with love?”

During this Lenten season, may we be willing to surrender our soul, heart, mind, and strength towards loving God and to offer that love to all those around us because of the dignity and likeness of God that each one of us possesses.

Prayer

Loving God, help me to let go of whatever is holding me back from loving You with my whole self and help me to love others as freely as You love us.  Amen.

Anna Lester, ’98, Assistant Director of Edmundite Campus Ministry

Scripture

First Reading: Hosea 14:2-10
Psalm 81:6c-11b, 14, 17
Gospel: Mark 12:28-34

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website