THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
4 November 2018 – Bruder Klaus
Dt 6:2-6
Heb 7:23-28
Mk 12:28b-34
Praised be
Jesus Christ!
I suppose
there are any number of ways to formulate the question, but it is important to
recognize that countless good people, even in our very secularized world today,
are asking in one form or another this fundamental question: “Which is the high
road to Heaven?” Well, maybe they are not asking it in those very words, but I
think to say it that way is to say more than by asking, “What are my duties as
a baptized Catholic?” Alternatively you
could ask, “Where is Church, living and saving people, to be found?” or “What
does it mean to be a real believer and is that what is central to the mission
of the Catholic Church here on earth?”
The scribe
in today’s passage from St. Mark’s Gospel asked Jesus, "Which is the first of all the commandments?" Perhaps
that was not complete enough as a question and hence the ensuing dialogue with
Jesus, which led to the Lord’s praise of the man and his clear understanding of
God’s will for us in this world.
“And when Jesus saw that (he)
answered with understanding, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom
of God.’"
For today
anyway, let us stick to the formulation I suggested! “Which is the high road to
Heaven?” In line with the Scripture readings for today, Old Testament or New
Testament, we could answer very simply and say, “Keep the two great
commandments and you will certainly be on the right track!”
The Book of
Deuteronomy promises long life and prosperity for those who obey God’s commands
or rather who follow the first and greatest of all the commandments:
"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our
God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all
your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these
words which I enjoin on you today.”
That is
solid Old Testament teaching about the demands of righteousness, to which we
add the words of Jesus from the Gospel:
“The second is this: 'You shall love
your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than
these."
In fact,
most of us struggle our whole life long and still come up short when it comes
to whole-hearted love of God and neighbor. If we are of good will, we try, but
invariably we also fail and so we must try again. We often sin against charity
in bigger or smaller ways, we dutifully confess our sins and failings, and with
the grace of the Sacrament of Penance, the strength of the Holy Eucharist, with
the intercessory aid of God’s Angels and Saints, we grow in strength and
wisdom, progressing along the road that, please, God, will lead us home to
Heaven.
“Which is
the high road to Heaven?”
I am
guessing that maybe a hundred years ago, perhaps even sixty years ago, what I am
saying about the absolute priority of living out the consequences of
faithfulness to the two great commandments was obvious to most Catholics. Today,
for better or for worse, we need to talk through with people the notion that nothing
is more important than living in love. I do just that by striving in everything
to fulfill the reason for which I was created, namely: to know, love and serve
God in this life, so that I might be able to be happy with Him in Heaven. It
seems people today need convincing of that truth. For joy’s sake and forever,
self-sacrificing love trumps/outweighs/ outranks/outclasses any possible benefit,
or enhancement of the quality of life that some civil authority or we might
seek or claim for ourselves.
Choosing
joy, choosing freedom at its best, means betting on or committing to the Only
One, Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. My dignity, my joy cannot come
from me without God first. If I am not rooted in the Creator and in His Will
for the world, then I am without a lifeline, I am doomed to perish, along with
everything else which passes.
“that you … may fear the LORD, your
God, and keep, throughout the days of your lives, all his statutes and
commandments which I enjoin on you, and thus have long life. Hear then, Israel,
and be careful to observe them, that you may grow and prosper the more, in
keeping with the promise of the LORD, the God of your fathers, to give you a
land flowing with milk and honey.”
The Almighty
is present and active in His universe. God’s will, His Law is supreme. The
divine will was, it is and shall be forever, unchanging, as is He our Creator
from the beginning, our Redeemer and Lord. You cannot legalize things that are
contrary to God’s Law. Sadly, even in so-called democracies laws are made
without reference to the truth. The truth is that the human person is inviolate
from the first moment of existence in the womb until natural death. The truth
is that marriage, the stable and faithful union of one man and one woman, is by
God’s Will where children are to be conceived, born and properly raised. By
God’s Will, it is not I who can determine my last day on this earth. We cannot
set the limits of the cup of suffering either for ourselves or for others. Heaven
or Paradise is not to be found in the here and now. Through Adam’s sin, we
share his valley of tears and place our hope in Christ’s saving Cross.
Setting my
own rules and priorities without reference to the truth is a tangled web
depriving me of genuine and lasting freedom in this life. It is a dead end. It
keeps me from the glory that is my destiny. “Which is the high road to Heaven?”
Obedience to God’s commands! His perfect love would require nothing less of us
and in exchange gifts us with happiness.
“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.’”
Praised be
Jesus Christ!
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