Today’s Gospel challenges us to think about what is important in our lives and especially about our relationship with God. Is our lifestyle orientated towards our relationship with God, how does it impact on our family life, our prayer life or our social life? On what do we base our values?
Jesus is in Jerusalem being questioned by the scribes and the Jewish authorities. The question posed by the scribe in today’s Gospel is not meant as a test but it is healthy dialogue with Jesus. The scribe was asking Jesus to interpret the Law of Moses. “Which is the first of all the commandments?” he asks (meaning which is the most important). Jesus in his answer links the Shema with the command to love one’s neighbour. Shema in Hebrew means “hear” it is a very important prayer in Judaism which is recited twice daily. It is found in Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear Israel, the Lord (is) our God; the Lord is one. You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” The Mosaic Law consists of the Ten Commandments and many other commandments (613), adherence to these Laws is an expression of faithfulness to God’s covenant with Israel. The importance of these Laws was a topic of discussion among the teachers of the Law in the time of Jesus. The first or most important commandment Jesus said is to love God with all your being, it is a commitment and a faithful allegiance to God. The second is “You will love your neighbour as yourself.” Here Jesus is quoting Leviticus 19:18 it is part of the Holiness Codes.
Jesus’ answer connected two commandments, love of God and love of neighbour. The scribe was pleased with the answer and said obedience to these two commandments meant more than “any burnt offering or sacrifice” in the Temple. “You are not far from the Kingdom of God” Jesus replied. Indicating that the scribe was ready to hear the Good News and become a follower. Jesus’ answer is known as the “Great Commandment” in Christianity, and is a lens through which we can view the Ten Commandments. The first three commandments fulfil love of God. The last seven fulfil love of neighbour. St. Paul says in his Letter to the Romans that love for our neighbour is the fulfilment of the Law (Rom 13: 9-10). To be able to carry out this “Great Commandment” is not easy, to love God with our whole selves requires God’s help, and an openness to the Holy Spirit.
In the Gospel today Jesus tells us the most important thing we can do to help us pay attention to God. It is called “the Greatest commandment.” Jesus said, we should first listen to God then, love God with “all our heart, soul, mind and strength,” and we should “love our neighbour as ourselves.”
- How important it is to listen to God
- We should love God with all our heart, mind and strength
- We should also love our neighbour
One day Jesus was in the Temple teaching the people who were gathered there when a man asked Jesus a question, “teacher which is the greatest commandment?” Jesus answered by saying first it is very important to be able to listen to God.
To pay attention to what people are telling us means that we have to listen carefully to what that person is saying. At school for example it is very important to listen properly to your teacher when you are learning a new maths problem, otherwise you won’t be able to work it out yourself. It’s the same with God, we need to listen and pay attention, when we go to mass or in catechism lessons. We need to make time to listen to God.
Jesus then went on to tell the people that to be able to listen to God we must “love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength” and to “love your neighbour as yourself.” How do you think we might show our love to God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength? We could show our love of God through prayer, reading Bible stories, worship, singing praises, and giving thanks for all His blessings. How do you think we could love our neighbour? Our neighbour is anyone who needs our help so we could be kind to them, forgive them when they hurt our feelings, be helpful in times of trouble, be a friend to them or treat them like we want to be treated ourselves. These are the commandments that Jesus thought were the most important. It isn’t easy to keep those commandments, is it? We need to ask God for His help each and every day.
Now, if you would like to remember what Jesus said in today’s Gospel about loving God and others with all our heart, soul, mind and strength you can print out the mobile template to make a mobile to hang up in your room. Colour all the pieces, cut them out and stick them on craft card to make them stronger. Attach them to a ribbon or string with the cloud on top, arrange them in order as Jesus taught us. Finish with the person at the bottom. It’s a girl in the picture but boys may like to draw a picture of a boy instead!
You can also listen to the song, Love the Lord.
Let’s pray and ask God for his help so that we can love as he commanded us.
Sign of the cross.
Heavenly Father, help us show our love for you by loving others. Thank you for loving us just as we are, may we always treat others the way we want them to treat us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen
Today’s Gospel clearly tells us how we should love and serve God. “With all your heart, and with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” and to “love your neighbour as yourself.” If we do this then we are following Jesus’ “Greatest commandment.”
- The most important thing we can do is love God
- We should love other people as much as we love ourselves
- Blank papers
- Pencils and colours
- Stickers to decorate
In today’s Gospel, a Jewish scribe asked Jesus what was the greatest commandment. As you know God gave Moses the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai but in fact the Jewish people followed 613 commandments which are called the Torah (Law) so it was quite a tricky question to answer. Jesus answered by saying that to love God with all of our being was the most important command. He said;
“Listen people of Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength. The second most important command is to love your neighbour as you love yourself. There are not any commands more important than these.”
What does this mean for us? Jesus named four parts of ourselves that are meant to love God. What are they? Heart, soul, mind and strength. We all have a heart which pumps blood around our bodies but Jesus was talking about something different. He was talking about our free will, the part of us that makes choices and decisions. If we love God with our will then we are ready to accept what God askes of us and obey His teachings. A person’s soul is unique to every person, it’s the spiritual part of us that will last forever. It points us towards God. If we love God with all of our soul then we will be trying to be good, like God is good. We use our mind to think and to understand things. Persons who love God with all their mind will be thinking about things that are pleasing to God. In the Sacrament of Confirmation we pray for the Holy Spirit to give us God’s wisdom and understanding to help us think. How can we love God with all of our strength? We need to give God all that we do in our lives, no matter if we are tired or full of energy, we should always give God our best.
The second greatest commandment, to love our neighbour as we love ourselves can be very hard to do sometimes. Especially if someone has been mean to us or hurt our feelings. We need God’s help to love in the way he has asked us to. These two commandments which Jesus gave us go together, the more that we love God, the more we will love the people God created. Jesus died on the cross to show us how much he loves us. If we accept Jesus’ love in our lives then we will be able to share it with others.
If you would like to think a bit more about what Jesus has taught us today take the blank A4 paper you have prepared and fold it into four equal parts. Write a heading in each part. 1) HEART, 2) SOUL, 3) MIND, 4) STRENGTH. That’s the easy part, now list three things in each section which will Show how you love God with your whole being. It is a sort of checklist of showing love to others. Then try this week to carry out the things you have written. As you accomplish each one cross it off or mark it with a sticker. Listen also to this song: Love the Lord.
Let us pray the Act of Love.
Sign of the cross.
O my God, I love you above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because you are all good and worthy of all my love. I love my neighbour as myself for the love of you. I forgive all who have injured me and I ask pardon of all whom I have injured. Amen.
Coming soon.
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