10/26/2014 – Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Matthew 22:34-40

      “Teacher, which commandment of the law is the greatest?”  Interesting question, isn’t it?  This question takes on greater significance when we learn that there are 613 commandments in the Torah, the first 5 books of the Hebrew Scriptures.   248 of them are positive commands, such as “You shall learn the Torah and teach it” from Deuteronomy 6:7.  365 were of them are prohibitions, such as “You shall not bow down to idols” in Exodus 20:5.  We might wonder how anyone could remember all 613.  Certainly, some were more important than others.  Some of the commandments could be very detailed and involve very specific situations, such as the stipulation that if one finds a bird’s nest with a mother bird sitting on her eggs or her young, one may take the young but must let the mother go.  (Deuteronomy 22:6-7). Before Jesus came along, many of the great teachers in Ancient Israel and the prophets tried to sum up the spirit of the law in the Torah in a way that was easy to remember.  Micah summed it up this way: The Lord requires you to do justice, to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God. 

      We all know how Jesus sums up God’s laws.   He sums it up very succinctly: To love God with you heart and your mind and your soul, and to your love your neighbor as yourself.  Jesus does not disregard the other commandments, but says that on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

       It is important for us as Catholics to study God’s laws and commandments.  The Pharisees, scribes, and many others in Ancient Israel memorized all 613 commandments and could rattle them off one by one. However, applying those commandments in a loving, compassionate way in our lives and in the lives of others – that is something altogether different and something much more difficult to do.  We can look out how Pope Francis approaches being the leader of our Church.  As Pope, he is there to be our spiritual leader and teacher, to lead and guide the faithful as we journey in faith.  But, Pope Francis wants us to never forget what is at the heart of Christ’s Gospel message – love of God and love of our brothers and sisters. Pope Francis recently convened a Synod in Rome to look at issues that are affecting the family throughout the world.  The Synod has made a  lot of news in the last couple of weeks, especially in the difficult issues it has been wrestling with.  In his homily in the mass that closed this year’s session of the Synod, Pope Francis told the people that the word synod meant “journeying together,” something that is important not to forget.   The pope thanked the bishops, pastors, and lay people who came to Rome from every part of the world, who brought the voices of their particular Churches there to help the families in the world walk the path of the Gospel with our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus himself.  When I was speaking to Bishop Kopacz at the Presbyteral Council in Jackson last week, he made some remarks about the Synod.  Bishop Kopacz heard the Pope saying that we have the reality of our Church’s tradition and the reality of the pastoral application of that tradition and of the laws of the Church; the Pope warned of us being too extreme and rigid on either side.  There has to be a balance. And we have to be compassionate and welcoming as a Church as well.  We have the same difficulty when we have a decision to make and try to apply God’s laws to that decision.  Sometimes if we make a rigid, narrow-minded decision, the spirit of the love of God and love of neighbor can be completely lost.

      In the pastoral council of our parish this past week, we finished reading the book Rebuilt, a book about a Catholic parish in Baltimore that tried to reawaken and renew its mission and ministry.   In the appendix of the book, we noted the very simple Mission statement that this parish adopted: Love God – Love others – Make disciples.  Six simple words.  Three simple directives.  Six simple words that reflect the heart of today’s Gospel message. Six simple words that reflect what it means to be Catholic, what it means to be a disciple of Christ: Love God – Love others – Make disciples.  

      Father Burke Masters said some very profound things at the mission we had in September.  I know a lot of us were very edified and inspired by the message he brought us from Pope Francis’ Joy of the Gospel.  I remember him saying that we priests have a lot we try to do here in the parish.  And he called all the parishioners to join in the mission of the parish, to help the priests by reminding us and prodding us and making suggestions to us – to help in the ministry of the parish.  We are going to have parish council elections in a couple of weeks.  That will be a good way for us to continue to choose good parish leaders. It is good to think about how we can get involved in different ministries and services in our parish, to join the Ladies Club or the Knights of Columbus, to be active and to contribute to the life of our parish. That will help foster within us a love of God and love of neighbor, a sense of belonging and a sense of community.

      Pope Francis, in one of his addresses to the papal audience on St Peter’s Square in Rome, noted this challenge contained in today’s Gospel: The love we are to have as disciples of Christ is not sterile sentimentality or something vague.  Rather, it is an acknowledgment of God as the one Lord of life, but, at the same time, it is the acceptance of the other as my true brother or sister.   It is a love that overcomes division, rivalry, misunderstanding, and selfishness. Being a disciple of Christ is never easy.   Bringing this call to love God and love others is not easy either.  But that is what we are called to do.