Friday 3rd Week of Lent

Gospel – Mark 12:28-34

Love is the Answer, and the Question

Chapel at Cana

Finally!  A Pharisee/scribe asking Jesus an honest question and not looking to catch Him off-guard.   He actually seeks an honest response, and he then agrees with Jesus’ answer! 

There are 616 precepts in Jewish Law and asking Jesus which one is the greatest is probably asking for trouble.  Jesus’ answer perfectly sums the entire Law in one simple reply.  Why obey all those precepts?  Love! Love is the answer.  I obey the law because I love the law-giver – God!  Because I want our relationship to be strong and to flourish.

It’s that love of a parent for a child, the willingness to get up in the middle of the night to give them a glass of water even though you were sleeping soundly.  It’s a love that goes out of its way to comfort them when they are sick or skinned their knee.  It’s a love that joyfully shares in their laughter or a game of hide and seek even when you have a long list of jobs to do around the house. 

It is a love that is active, self-less and expansive.  It is love that goes way beyond words and is expressed in how I live my life, how I treat others.  It is a love where I lose myself, my selfishness and ego because I am so devoted, so focused on the good of another.  That means love is more than just a feeling, more than just another emotion.  Love is a way of life!  It is taking the infinite love we have received from God and sharing it with others.  It is a love that is expressed not merely in words but with our mind, our heart, our soul, our entire being.  Love really is the answer!

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