MY daily reflection and prayer:
Friday, August 21, 2015
Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
Dear my friends,
Here is the Gospel for us today according to Matthew 22:34-40
But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.”
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
***
THE Gospel today tells us how Jesus summarized the whole of the law in two great commandments, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might and you shall love your neighbor as yourself”. We can read it in Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18.
We learn of God’s love which directs all that he does. Truly, his love is holy, just, and pure because it seeks only what is good, beneficial, and life-giving rather than what is destructive, evil and deadly.
Jesus Christ commands us to love; to accept and to give only what is good, lovely, just, and pure and to reject whatever is evil, destructive and deadly. He wants us to love him personally, wholeheartedly, and without any reservation or compromise.
True love is the gift of giving ourselves for the good of others. It is wholly directed and oriented to what is good rather than evil, is rooted in God’s truth and righteousness. It is wholly other oriented and directed to the welfare and benefit of others. There is no jealousy, greed and envy.
In the Perpetual Adoration of the Eucharist, while worshipping Jesus Christ, we learn of his love that is not rooted in pleasing ouselves nor self-centered and possessive. God’s love always seeks us out to draw us to his throne of mercy and help.
Let’s pray: Lord Jesus Christ, give us a new freedom to love as you love us. Flood our heart with your love and increase our faith and hope in your promises. Help us to give ouselves in generous service to others as you have so generously given yourself to each of us now and forever. Amen.
Kredit foto: Ilustrasi (Ist)
