Agreeing vs. Understanding

Thirty-first Sunday in

Ordinary Time

31 October 2021 

 

First Reading: DT 6:2-6

Responsorial Psalm: PS 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51

Second Reading: HEB 7:23-28

Gospel: MK 12:28b-34

 

Reflection

By: Bernard Borja

 

Do we allow the kingdom of God to dominate in our life? Or are we building our own kingdom, with a twisted perspective and belief that we are building it because of love? And do we really understand what real love is, for us to do things for God and for our neighbor?

Loving God means understanding and obeying His commandments. When Jesus said there is no other commandment greater than the two (Love God with all your...and love your neighbor as yourself), it does not make the other commandments least. The greatest commandment and the second have always been the foundation of all commandments.

To love God with all your heart means to learn everyday how God loves and what real love means. One cannot say that he or she understands what love is if he or she does not favor kindness over harshness to others. St. Paul affirmed this in one of his epistles when he said, "Love is kind". We can learn what real love means by choosing kind words and a kind approach to people even in disagreement. Today, we see a culture of hate continuously being tolerated and even promoted by people who think they understand what love is. Love and hatred have always been two opposite and very different things. We cannot say that we love when harsh words come out of our mouth, especially when we think they deserve it and because of what we understand. When we think and "love" like this, we lose our soul. The soul that God breathed into man to be alive. The same soul that God commands us to love Him with all of it. Even worse is to put hatred in our mind and make an effort to manifest this. In this way, we cannot really say that we obey the first and greatest of the commandments. Furthermore, in this perspective of "loving", we only agree to what God says but we choose not to obey.

To agree with what someone says does not really mean we really understand it. When we choose harshness over kindness, we agree to our own perspective of loving but we do not really understand it. Thus, we stray far from the kingdom of God. When we do not take to heart God's words and choose not to obey, we will not be able to receive fully what God has promised to us. Moses says to "Fear the Lord, keep all His statutes throughout our life, and be careful to observe His commandments" for us to grow and prosper more. However, there are times when we choose to build our own kingdom of hatred to those who do not agree with us. Sometimes, in our sense of entitlement, we see others to be undeserving of kindness. We forget to listen to our own prayers when we pray, "Thy kingdom come."

Jesus said to one of the scribes, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” because Jesus knew that the scribe fully understands the commandments. The scribe understands that “The Lord is our God, the Lord alone, and there is no other", means we serve God with all ourself, what God has meant for us in the beginning when he created man. That man was created to give glory to God alone. And that everything the man does is all for the greater glory of God. As one of the scribes says, it is more than giving up all or part of our belongings. It is acknowledging God’s authority over us and that He alone knows whatever is good for us. It is also being blind in the right way, that we put our trust in God as we learn to fully understand His commandments. And it is never about sacrificing something to gain a false sense of humility, but to discern and listen closely in our prayers for God’s wisdom especially to what He asks of us to do.

Prayer

Dear Lord, we open our hearts to be more understanding of Your commandments, as we strive to learn that obeying is more than our own offerings and sacrifices. We beg for the grace of wisdom to understand that loving You with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and

with all our strength, means not to focus on our own understanding but to trust in You alone. May we grow in kindness to each other, and forgive as we learn together what real love means. In Jesus’ Name we pray, AMEN.