Thursday of
9th Week in Ordinary Time, Yr. II: reflection
Theme: You can’t genuinely love God without loving your neighbour
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Reading: Mk
12:28b-34
There are
churches on every corner of the streets in our countries, with a large number
of people going in and out of these churches for prayers and other religious
purposes. At every prayer session or other activity in these churches, members
raise their voices to declare or whisper quietly in their hearts about how much
they love God, and also promise to love Him with every breath in them.
It is
reasonable to assume that as the number of people expressing their love for God
on a daily basis rises and as the number of places where this love is
occasionally declared rises as well, the number of crimes against human beings
in society will inevitably decline. But it seems that the opposite appears
to be the case: despite the rise in the number of people who raise their hands
and voices in churches to declare their love for God, crimes against humanity
seem to be on the rise. This raises doubts about the genuineness of the love we
profess for God or, more accurately, whether we truly understand what loving
God entails.
In today’s
gospel reading, while responding to the question about the greatest of commandments,
Jesus hints on what anyone who truly loves God should do. He said the two
greatest of all commandments are to love of God with everything in us and to
love of neighbour as ourselves. None of these two can exist without the other.
Therefore,
whoever professes love for God must consequently extend a hand of love to the people
around him or her, these include the people near and far: husband, wife,
children, brother, sister, relatives, friends, colleagues, fellow citizens and
all human beings, whether they are lovable or not.
Indeed, the
genuineness of our love for God will be tested by the way we treat our fellow
human beings, and not by how loud we proclaim it in the Church and/or street
corners.
May your
honest efforts this Thursday bear good fruits. Amen
Fr Isaac
Chima
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