[stephenkhoo]

THE RESURRECTED LIFE AS A SHARING IN THE LOVE OF GOD

SCRIPTURE READINGS: HOSEA 14:2-10; MK 12:28-34
http://www.universalis.com/20150313/mass.htm

Lent is a preparation to celebrate and participate in the resurrected life.  But what is the resurrected life if not a sharing in the life of God, in other words, eternal life.  To have this life is to share in the reign of the Kingdom.  For this reason, when the scribe affirmed what Jesus said regarding the greatest of all the commandments as loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength; and loving our neighbour as ourselves, Jesus, “seeing how wisely he has spoken said, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’”  That is to say, he was not far from sharing the life of God.

Nevertheless, in spite of the truth of what Jesus said, yet, the command to love God with our whole being and to love our neighbour as ourselves is problematic.  Firstly, with regard to the command to love God with our whole being, this might seem to be an impossible task.  For how can we love God so completely?  We cannot even love our loved ones who love us completely, much less to love God whom we cannot see.  We all know that we fall short of giving our entire selves to God, in spite of our sincerity in wanting to do so.  Furthermore, one might also ask whether God is expecting too much from us.  It seems that this God is too demanding, wanting all our love.  He seems to be desperately in need of our love.

Secondly, the other command to love our neighbour as ourselves is equally difficult.  Indeed, how many of us truly love ourselves?  If we do, then why is it that we smoke and destroy our bodies and that of others?  Why do we drink and eat excessively?  Why is it that we continue to harbour anger, grudges and resentment in our hearts?  Why is it that we work day and night and neglect our loved ones and friends?  When we do such things, we cannot be said to truly love ourselves.  Even if we do not do all these, many of us find it difficult to accept ourselves.  Maybe we think we are not handsome or beautiful enough, compared to others.  We find ourselves academically not as good as our friends.  We suffer from low self-esteem and often wish we were someone else other than ourselves.  That is why we try so hard to win the approval of our friends.  We seek popularity, recognition and acceptance.  This was the case of the Israelites.  They tried to find security in themselves. “Assyria cannot save us, we will not ride horses any more, or say, ‘Our god!’ to what our own hands have made, for you are the one in whom orphans find compassion.”  But most of all, we find it so difficult to love ourselves for all the foolish mistakes and decisions we have made in life, resulting in the state that we are in today.  Every time we remember our past; we cannot but be filled with remorse and regret.

And if we cannot love ourselves, how can we love others in turn?  Love of others presupposes that we learn to love ourselves.  If we cannot accept ourselves, how can we accept others?  If we do not love ourselves for all our strengths and imperfections, how can we accept our fellowmen who are no more perfect than any one of us?  So, to love others and accept them for what they are, presumes we are able to love ourselves.  Otherwise, when we begin to discover the person’s weaknesses, we become disillusioned with them.  Aren’t we expecting too much from any human person?

At any rate, why do we bother to love others?  We justify by claiming that we cannot even take care of ourselves. Isn’t it true that we always wait for others to love us first?  We want others to reach out to us in love and assistance.  But to take the initiative, many of us would rather not.  We feel incapable of loving.  This is understandable.  If one is in pain, it is difficult to think of the pain of others.  So when we are so bankrupt in love, we cannot give what we have not got.  Until we are loved, we cannot find the capacity to love our neighbours.

How, then, do we resolve these apparent contradictions?  Firstly, we must understand the context of today’s gospel reading.  In actual fact, the reply of Jesus to the scribe is not exactly original.  He was simply citing from Deuteronomy and from Leviticus, the books of the Torah.  The novelty of the citations is that Jesus juxtaposed both commandments together.   For this reason, the scribe could readily assent to Jesus’ answer.  But what are the implications in citing from the Torah and putting them adjacent to each other?

It means that the commandments that Jesus mentioned could only be fulfilled in the context of the experience of God’s unconditional love, infinite mercy and overwhelming power to give life.  This experience was something real and concrete in the history of Israel, especially in the Exodus experience.  The Israelites were nobody before they became a nation.  They were a mob and slaves under the Egyptians.   Yet God showed His gracious love by choosing them to be His people.   He called them to be His own.  By so doing, God showed His mercy to them as well.  And by delivering them from the slavery of the Egyptians, He manifested His power to overcome evil and give life.  Such were the wonders and mighty works of God experienced by the Israelites.

What was more, God remained forever faithful to Israel in spite of their countless infidelities to the covenant.  This is reiterated in today’s first reading from the Prophet Hosea.  Through Hosea, God assured the people of the Northern Kingdom that He would continue to love them and forgive them.  Yes, He said, “I will love them with all my heart, for my answer turned from them.”  Indeed, God wanted to deliver them from their enemies, the Assyrians.  Thus, He appealed to the people through the prophet to repent of their sins, the sin of alienation, of injustice, the lack of love and most of all, reliance on their own strength and wisdom, trusting in horses, idols and what their hands had made, rather than on the wisdom and might of God.

So it is clear that the experience of God’s unconditional love, mercy and power was the basis for the Israelites to observe the shema, that is, the commandment to love God with all their heart, soul and strength; neighbour and self.  Without this prior experience of God’s love, mercy and power, one would not be able to love God, others and self with one’s whole being.  For only because the Israelites experienced how God loved them so totally with His whole being, how He always forgave them for their sins and how He showed His power over their enemies, that they in turn could surrender their lives completely to the Lord and love their neighbour, since they were called to be the chosen people of God, and most of all, to rely on God’s strength and might.  God said through the prophet, “I will heal their disloyalty,
I will love them with all my heart, for my anger has turned from them.”  For us, Jesus of course is the love of God in person.  He reveals to us the love of God in His life, passion, death and resurrection.  We must come to Him and experience His love for us if we are to find strength to reciprocate that love with love for God and our neighbours.  Only God’s love in Christ, especially in His passion, can heal our wounded hearts.

Yes, if Jesus invites us to love God completely and our neighbour as ourselves, it is because His nature is love.  Regardless whether it is the love of God or of our fellowmen or of ourselves, we must love all completely and totally.  Without such a love, we cannot claim to be sharing the life of God, since the nature of God is love, mercy, compassion and power.  If we truly want to share in the life of Christ at Easter, then we too must cultivate the heart of love of Jesus.  For only in loving, in forgiving and in being open to God’s grace and power, can we share in the life of God.  Thus, in our preparation for Lent, let us pray that the heart of God be also ours, since to have that heart is to have God reigning in our lives – the reign of love.