Friday of the Third Week of Lent - March 8, 2013
Friday of the Third Week of Lent
Mark 12:28 – 34
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 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: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.
“The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”
What does this mean? The mystics of every age have reminded us that God is one, that this essential oneness is the heart of spirituality. They have talked about “Divine union” and the basic unity for which God created all things.
In Christ, all things hold together (Col. 1:17).
Yet, centuries of Christians have been frightened by this language – even though it was also the language of Jesus in John’s Gospel – and have resisted union. It is easier to separate, divide, and differentiate.
This oneness is not sameness. Union does not mean that all persons and things meld into one indistinguishable blob. Union means connections, coming together, being with. It means joining in with God, participating with God in what God is doing in my life, in others, and in the world.
God is one. And God invites us into that oneness.
Mark 12:28 – 34
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 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: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.
“The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”
What does this mean? The mystics of every age have reminded us that God is one, that this essential oneness is the heart of spirituality. They have talked about “Divine union” and the basic unity for which God created all things.
In Christ, all things hold together (Col. 1:17).
Yet, centuries of Christians have been frightened by this language – even though it was also the language of Jesus in John’s Gospel – and have resisted union. It is easier to separate, divide, and differentiate.
This oneness is not sameness. Union does not mean that all persons and things meld into one indistinguishable blob. Union means connections, coming together, being with. It means joining in with God, participating with God in what God is doing in my life, in others, and in the world.
God is one. And God invites us into that oneness.
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