Friday of the Third Week of Lent – March 12, 2010
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 foundation of life with God is the experience of God’s oneness and the experience of God’s love. These are non-negotiables, the realities we must get in order to get all the rest. Thomas Merton said that the most basic commandment in Christian spirituality is not to love, but to trust in faith that you are loved.
Christian spirituality has long insisted that the end of the spiritual life is oneness. "Union" is the word used most often in spiritual formation. We are invited into a deeper union with God, others, and the world.
For many Christians it sounds like heresy, that we could be brought into union with God. Jesus insisted, though, that God’s essential nature is Oneness. And Jesus prayed that his followers would experience oneness as he was one with God the Father (Jn. 17:11, 22).
It is not enough, though, to understand God’s Oneness conceptually. We are invited to move into God’s Oneness, to experience it at ever-deeper levels of our souls.
God’s Oneness means that there are no divisions. It suggests that tensions and extremes that seem to be at odds are actually held in creative unity by God’s mystery. God’s unity means that all things cohere.
That humans are invited into God’s Oneness is an expression of the image of God within us. As persons created by and for God, we are literally made for this union. And at deep places within our souls we already experience this unity, even if we are unaware of it.
Further, God’s presence in our world is characterized by love. Because of God’s prior love, we are created to love God completely and to love others with a God-like love.
In fact, our oneness with God is most complete when we live lives of love, when we are given to the generous and gratuitous expenditure of love.
The person who steps toward this oneness with God, living a life of generous love, moves more deeply into the “kingdom of God.” The “kingdom” is “not far” from such a person. They have a working facility with this kingdom’s domain, the realm of love. They have access to the wealth of wisdom that is found by deep connection with God and by extravagant love.
To this oneness and to this gratuitous love we are invited, especially during the holy season of Lent.
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 foundation of life with God is the experience of God’s oneness and the experience of God’s love. These are non-negotiables, the realities we must get in order to get all the rest. Thomas Merton said that the most basic commandment in Christian spirituality is not to love, but to trust in faith that you are loved.
Christian spirituality has long insisted that the end of the spiritual life is oneness. "Union" is the word used most often in spiritual formation. We are invited into a deeper union with God, others, and the world.
For many Christians it sounds like heresy, that we could be brought into union with God. Jesus insisted, though, that God’s essential nature is Oneness. And Jesus prayed that his followers would experience oneness as he was one with God the Father (Jn. 17:11, 22).
It is not enough, though, to understand God’s Oneness conceptually. We are invited to move into God’s Oneness, to experience it at ever-deeper levels of our souls.
God’s Oneness means that there are no divisions. It suggests that tensions and extremes that seem to be at odds are actually held in creative unity by God’s mystery. God’s unity means that all things cohere.
That humans are invited into God’s Oneness is an expression of the image of God within us. As persons created by and for God, we are literally made for this union. And at deep places within our souls we already experience this unity, even if we are unaware of it.
Further, God’s presence in our world is characterized by love. Because of God’s prior love, we are created to love God completely and to love others with a God-like love.
In fact, our oneness with God is most complete when we live lives of love, when we are given to the generous and gratuitous expenditure of love.
The person who steps toward this oneness with God, living a life of generous love, moves more deeply into the “kingdom of God.” The “kingdom” is “not far” from such a person. They have a working facility with this kingdom’s domain, the realm of love. They have access to the wealth of wisdom that is found by deep connection with God and by extravagant love.
To this oneness and to this gratuitous love we are invited, especially during the holy season of Lent.
Comments
Post a Comment