‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself'

Third Week of Lent: Friday

Reading Mark 12: 28-34

One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The first is, ‘Hear O Israel; the Lord our God, the Lord is one, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind and with all your strength.” The second is this, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one and besides him there is no other”; and “to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength” and “to love one’s neighbour as oneself”, this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.’  When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ After that no one dared to ask him any questions.

Reflection We are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27) and are made for love. We are invited to listen deeply to Jesus’ instruction to love God as the supreme and only God; He is the one Lord and we must honour and worship him with the totality of our being; nothing must draw us away from the deepest and most profound worship of our creator. During this Lenten season, I am challenged to reflect on my relationship with God; Is he the central being in my life or has the worship of many false gods pushed him to the margins of my day-to-day living?  Do these gods draw me away from the deep, personal, intimate relationship that he offers me; has the fire of divine life been snuffed out by materialism, work, or secular interests?  Do I spend time in deep contemplative prayer where I get to know my Lord at an ever-deeper level, a prayer that echoes the Psalmist David, when he prayed, ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name.’ (Psalm 103:1) From this wellspring of prayer I will desire to live in right relationship with my God where all my thoughts, actions, feelings and emotions will worship him. (Psalm 139:13) I have been created in love and for love and desire to give him back this great love which is his gift to me.

I am also called to love my neighbour as myself. These are challenging words in our selfish and at times self-centred world today.  I am asked to reflect on my capacity for genuine love and service of those around me, my family, community, work colleagues and global neighbours. Do I give of myself without reserve or am I mean and ill-spirited with those with whom I live?  In my family do I contribute to the well-being of the home by a fair distribution of chores or do I leave all the responsibilities to my spouse or community member. Am I accountable for the use of money or other resources or am I wasteful of these gifts. Do I shop with discretion only buying what I need and respectful of Fair-Trade policies that support the economies of developing countries. Am I respectful of retail staff and those who deliver goods to our stores or clean our streets or do I place burdens on their shoulders and do nothing to help them.

The centrality of this love is fleshed out in the commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) and in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12). Do I choose which I uphold or are they irrelevant in my life?

These words of Jesus also invite me to reflect on my relationship with myself.

I ask myself, what is my relationship with my whole self, body mind and spirit? 

Do I give my whole being which is a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians:

6:19) the care and respect that it deserves? Do I care for my body with

adequate nutrition, rest and relaxation or do I neglect it?   Do I nurture my

spiritual life with prayer and study of scripture so that I may draw ever closer

to my God? Do I care for my spirit with sufficient rest and relaxation or am I at risk of physical, emotional or spiritual exhaustion that endanger my health and well-being and relationship with others?

I am also reminded that all creation is my neighbour and ask myself what is my relationship with planet earth? Do I respect and care for the many wonderful resources that it offers us each day or am I wasteful of God’s gifts to us?  What resolutions do I need to make so that this wonderful, free gift that has been bestowed upon us can be enjoyed by his generation and the generations yet unborn.  Do I see all as gift given to us by our most generous God, thank him and honour him for his great love?

Lent is a time to step back and reflect on the true meaning of life.

You may wish to do this by reviewing your Lenten journey to date and how points raised above speak to you.

You may wish to write your own prayer of gratitude for your faith asking God to deepen it each day for you.

You may wish to write a letter of thanks to a shop worker or Local Authority Street cleaner thanking them for the essential service that you receive each day.

Prayer

God our Father, I thank you for the gift of my life;

you ask me to love you with my whole heart,

my soul and my mind.

May I honour you with every fibre of my being;

O God of Israel, this day and always, Amen.