31st Sunday of Ordinary Time, year’B’
’One of the scribes who had listened to them debating, appreciated that Jesus had given a good answer and put a further question to him : ’Which is the first of all the commandments?’ Jesus replied : ’This is the first : Listen Israel, the Lord our God is the One, only Lord, and you must 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 must love your neighbour as yourself."
There are more than six hundred prescriptions given for us to move towards the encounter with the God of Israel. We might take up the image of a king whose kingdom astonishes us with its beauty, goodness and wealth. The little servant of this king is chosen to become queen. Maybe this little servant is ungracious, she is so conscious of her state of slave. It can come about that before these calls of the king she leaves home out of fear. If she leaves at night in the cold it would be hard for her to come back. She needs a go-between. In fact , she needs to find the right road!
If we frequent the God of Love we shall be touched by this Love. This isi what makes St.Therese of Lisiuex say : ’In the Heart of the Church, I shall be Love.’ She thought that in the God of Love she would be able to become Love. The only office I have is to love, she would say. Jesus , by uniting the Love of God and the Love of his brothers is the Way. We need to go into this Love which is a ’fusion of Love’ in the distinction of two separate people who are united. I can trust God to the point of drawing close to Him and to only make ’one with Him’ in Love.
“The scribe said to him, ’Well spoken , Master; what you have said is true, that he is one and there is no other. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself, this is far more important than any burnt offering or sacrifice.”
This commandment is given to us so that the Love of God takes up all the place in us and so that we can love with the very Love of God. From now on it will be the Love of God who transforms us by the frequentation of God-Love. Like God loves, I shall from now o be able to love and become Love.
To do this, the scribe asked Jesus what the first commandment was? He moves ahead in confidence, trusting God, who is this King of Love whom we sing in the ’Glory to God’. Yours is the Wisdom, yours is the Power. God is this Love who is absolutely unbelievable, diffusive. ’You shall love the Lord God with all your soul, mind, with all your strength.“If we are touched, burned by this Love we can become Love with Jesus. It is not always easy for within ourselves we are opaque and have resistances. But when the movement takes, it is unmistakably turned towards its aim.”Jesus, seeing how wisely he had spoken, said, ’You are not far from the Kingdom of God. And after that no one dared to question him anymore.“In order to be Love, we need to be in a relationship of person to person : ’God created man, man and woman, in his image and resemblance.’ In the Bible God is presented as the Bridegroom of his people, he draws his little creature to Him. God Love brings about his plan of Love by inviting his creature who has become his child at the table of his Great Love. Each person can make a free act of confidence towards God and towards his sisters and brothers. The way to encounter God is also through fraternal Love. Jesus, Son of the Father, introduces us in this new filiation that makes of us his sisters and brothers who love each other. ’Hear, Israel, the Lord God is One.” This Communion of Love coming form Jesus and the Father invites us to his table. Love is given to us ’on the inside.’