31st Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 31, 2021
Deacon Tom Westerkamp
“…You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
Mark 12: 28-34
with all your mind, and with all your strength…
you shall love your neighbor as yourself…”
Jesus has a pleasant exchange with a scribe, a teacher himself, in the Temple in today’s gospel passage. They both agree that the most important commandments involved loving God with all your heart, and loving your neighbor as yourself. They both also agreed that offering animal sacrifices and other burnt offerings that took place in the Temple for generations were just not important any more. What Jesus had been proclaiming to all who would listen, was that these two simply-stated commandments were the key elements to achieving everlasting life.
But many of the High Priests who made a living in the Temple offering up these sacrifices were not so happy with these new teachings; these were radical ideas. The High Priests enjoyed the status quo, they were quite content just leaving things exactly the way they were. People paid these priests money because common people were not “worthy” to offer burnt offerings and animal sacrifices. The High Priests had a good thing going; why would they want to change anything?
Jesus simplified things for everyone in those days. Don’t worry about animal sacrifices, just love God, completely; and love your neighbor as you love yourself. Easy to say…not so easy to embrace and live out. This was a challenge for the Jews in those days, and maybe it’s a challenge for us today?
We may not have to eliminate animal sacrifices and burnt offerings from our daily “to-do” list, but maybe we need to re-prioritize a few things in our lives? Are there luxury items we purchase frequently, that we can’t do without, that are preventing us financially from generously helping others? Are we so dependent on, and connected to, our e-devices that we feel we simply have no time for prayer, and struggle to form a warmer, more personal connection with God?
It’s difficult to love God with our whole heart when we have trouble finding time to talk to Him. It’s difficult to love our neighbor as ourself if we focus only on our own needs, and ignore the needs of others.
Jesus reminds us that if we can live our lives around these two core commandments, loving God and loving our neighbor, we won’t be far from the kingdom of heaven. In the challenging world we find ourselves today, that’s a good place to be.