Monday – 1st Week of Lent  

Gospel – Matthew 25:31-46

Do’s and Don’ts

Magdala

Don’t play with matches!  Don’t hit your brother!  Don’t play in the mud!  Don’t steal cookies from the pantry!  Don’t make that face at me!  Don’t run in the house!  Don’t’ lie to me!  And the list goes on and on.  We all recognize it – that long list of parental rules which, truth be told, we had to be reminded of daily before it finally (hopefully) sunk in.  From the perspective of our childhood memory, it seemed as if being a good person meant I just had to avoid evil.  If it really was that simple, then couldn’t I just lock myself away from the world, avoid all contact with others and then the problem is solved!  No one else around to cheat or steal from! 

That is what we hear in today’s first reading from Leviticus.  “You shall not steal.  You shall not lie or speak falsely to one another. You shall not swear falsely by my name, thus profaning the name of your God.  You shall not defraud or rob your neighbor. You shall not withhold overnight the wages of your day laborer. You shall not curse the deaf, or put a stumbling block in front of the blind. You shall not act dishonestly in rendering judgment.  You shall not go about spreading slander among your kin.  You shall not bear hatred for your brother.”

Don’t!  Don’t!  Don’t!  Follow the Law and avoid evil!  And even though the reading from Leviticus does end with “you shall love your neighbor as yourself”, it doesn’t really explain how to do it!   And that is where the Gospel steps in!  Many of the Jews at the time of Jesus seemed to have forgotten that ‘love of neighbor” part.  They stuck strictly to obedience of the Commandments simply because they were the Commandments.  But they had forgotten WHY they should be followed!  And that motive – LOVE – is the key to all our relationships!  Think about it; most of the 10 Commandments are about avoiding evil – don’t do this, don’t do that.  But all I’m doing is avoiding evil!  Am I actually doing anything GOOD?  Jesus reminds us in the Gospel today that the greatest commandment is LOVE.  Love of God and love of neighbor! It’s not enough to avoid evil; I must actively do good!  And I do good because I care about others, because I love God!  And I don’t want to hurt that relationship.

The love that Jesus is talking about is active!  It is not simply a nice feeling I have inside. It is this powerful, energizing emotion that reveals itself in all our actions.  It is not just a bunch of words but it’s what we do and how we treat others.  It’s how we give of ourselves for their benefit even when it’s inconvenient, even when it’s difficult.  It’s a love that grows and flourishes, makes us stronger and better!  It truly is about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving drink to the thirsty, and visiting the sick and imprisoned! 

Great Spirit, you created us out of love.  Help us to realize that the base of all things is love, love of you, love of others and a life of loving actions!

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