Reflections of a beloved son

"I have something for you!" "There's something very special in store for you!"  Those are two statements that may rouse up inside of us feelings of warmth, love, and over all feelings of being recognized as someone important and special.  When we were younger teachers may have done something similar to us when they tried to encourage us and motivate us, "Tommy there is a very special mission for you!  You have been called to be a special agent to bring this very important letter to Mrs. Wheatland in the 6th grade.  You must do it with top secret!"  Tommy would usually have felt very much encouraged and would take this task very seriously and execute it with the utmost care.  Have you ever experienced that before?  Or, have you ever used that with someone before? Whether you have or have not in the past, we are being asked to go on a very special, important, and urgent mission right now.  Just as Saul and Barnabas was set apart by the Holy Spirit...

We are called to love.  Notice that we are not asked to love or encouraged to love or even recommended  to love.  We are called  to love.  What does that mean? In today's Gospel reading , a Scribe asked Jesus "Which is the first of all the commandments?"  Jesus replied by quoting Scripture (Deuteronomy and Leviticus), " The first is this:  Hear, O Israel!  The Lord our God is Lord alone!  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.   The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself .  There is no other commandment greater than these" (Mk. 12:28-31).  Jesus tells the Scribe and all of us that to love God and to love neighbor are the most important things.  There is nothing else you can do that will replace these two commands.  In order to love God and others we must first learn how to receive love.  It is God who loved ...