Commentary
Sunday, November 4, 2018, Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time
Awe and Wonder Is Love
First Reading Commentary: Deuteronomy 6:2-6
Moses spoke to the people and said, “Fear the LORD, your God…” But Moses did not mean for the people to be afraid of God. This is just one of many, many times in Scripture that we see the word “fear” in relation to God. Fear of the Lord is even one of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit but it is often referred to as Awe and Wonder of the Lord because that is what Fear of the Lord really is.
Moses was really telling the people to be in awe and wonder because there is only One God who created all things. Therefore, God cannot be compared to any other thing or being and God should be respected as such. Furthermore, as part of God’s creation, the people should love God above all other things and beings.
That is the message of the First Commandment: “You shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” The First Commandment is no less God’s law to us than it was God’s law to the Israelites.
If you think about it, obeying the First Commandment should be an easy thing to do. It is human nature to be in awe and wonder of things that are magnificent and powerful and we often-times tend to gravitate toward those things and almost always, respect them. Bad things can be magnificent and powerful and that is one reason why we get ourselves into trouble—we sin.
But there is nothing which is or can be more magnificent and/or more powerful than God. Therefore, Awe and Wonder—Fear of the Lord, should be automatic for us. It should not need to be a conscience thought. And yet, if we do not focus on loving God and being in awe and wonder of His Almighty power, we will go astray.
If we take a look at the history of the Israelites and their relationship with the LORD, we will be looking at ourselves in the mirror. Don’t we grumble like they did? Don’t we commit the same sins over and over like they did? Don’t we need to be reminded by God who He is and what we must do to follow Him and how to follow Him? Does God not do everything He possibly can to get our attention?
We know that the Father sent the Son to save all of mankind. However, one could argue that God did more for us than He did for the Israelites in the desert because He did not send the Son until long after the time of the Israelites in the desert. I do not agree with that argument because Christ did come to save us all but I will concede that we do have the advantage of knowing that Christ went to the cross for our sake.
If ever there was a reason for us to be in Awe and Wonder and thereby Love God with all of our whole being, Christ going to the Cross is still that reason and will be that reason for all of eternity!
Always There
Second Reading Commentary: Hebrews 7:23-28
For the last two Sundays, Hebrews has taught us about Christ—the Great High Priest. Today, we learn that one of the reasons why Christ is the Great High Priest is because Christ lives on forever. This means that Christ is and will forever be available to whoever wishes to go to Him.
Hebrews says that the Levitical priests were many because they were prevented by death from remaining in office. There are several things to consider here. First, remember that Catholicism and therefore all of Christianity has its roots in Judaism. That said, there are many rabbis and priests today for the same reason. No one lives in this life forever.
Second, No one human-being is capable of ministering to all of mankind except Christ. Only He is physically and spiritually capable.
Third, lets consider the word: death, which I believe that in this context, it means more than a physical death. It also points to the fact that all rabbis and priests are human and all of us humans sin. All of us, except for Jesus and His mother Mary!
This is why Hebrews says, “He has no need, as did the high priests, to offer sacrifice day after day, first for his own sins and then for those of the people…” Christ did not need to make offerings and Christ did not need to confess any sins either because He never committed any. But Christ did institute the Sacrament of Confession, not once, but twice, because we do need to confess our sins. Christ also instituted the Eucharist so that we could make offerings and because of His love for us, Christ made Himself the Sacrifice which is why no further sacrifice need be made. Think about it. No other sacrifice could compare or be worthy.
Today’s reading ends by telling us that the priesthood of Christ—the Son has been made perfect forever. Humm. I do not understand how anything can be perfect and not be forever. Therefore, if it is forever, it must be perfect.
If you disagree, pray because I just gave a poor and humble definition of who God is. God is perfect and God is forever. None of us can say that about ourselves but God is perfect and infinitely much more. And, don’t ever forget that The Great High Priest is God the Son.
The Greatest Commandment
Gospel Commentary: Mark 12:28b-34
In Mark’s gospel of the Greatest Commandment, a scribe asked Jesus, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus replied, “The first is this…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.”
Both Luke and Matthew account for Jesus’ proclamation of the Greatest Commandment. In Matthew’s gospel of the Greatest Commandment, it is one of the Pharisees who tested Jesus by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” This takes place immediately after the Pharisees had tested Jesus asking Him about paying taxes. You would think that the Pharisees would have learned their lesson about testing Jesus but a closed mind never listens.
The answer that Jesus gave the Pharisee is basically the same that He gave to the scribe in Mark’s gospel but with a twist. To the Pharisee, Jesus said, “The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Why are these two commandments the greatest commandments and why is the whole law dependent on them? Let’s take a look at two reasons. First, loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength is something which should be automatic. We should not even have to meditate on the idea, we should just do it. But even for the best of us, it is not always like that because evil is all around us and the devil is always busy doing whatever he can to distract us and make us forget our love for God. But the devil does not have the last word unless we give it to him and we have a lot of help if we will only use it.
We have the Church and the sacraments and isn’t it great that the Eucharist and Confession are there for us to experience as many times as we want? The devil is always in front of us with his evilness but Christ is always there to strengthen us with His holiness, mercy and forgiveness. All we have to do is choose it.
We have prayer. There are many forms of prayer, both formal and informal. We can pray publicly or privately. But no matter how or when we pray, we should understand that prayer is nothing more than having a talk with God. Sometimes the best way to talk with God; is to just sit still, be quiet and let Him in and then listen to what He has to say.
We have Mary and the saints to intercede for us. Many Non-Catholics do not understand this. Some of them believe that Catholics worship Mary and the saints and that simply is not true! Have you ever asked your mother or father for something which they did not want to agree to? Did someone else talk to them on your behalf and change their mind or get them to go along with the idea? That is the power of intercession. Mary and the saints can and will do that for us if we ask them. Take a look at my Devotion to Mary page and my answer to why Catholics pray to her.
The second point I want to make is that if we obey these two commandments, we will obey all of the Ten Commandments. Think about it. If you break any of the Ten Commandments, you will also break the First Greatest Commandment because sin is a willful act against God. You will also break the Second because all of the others, except for keeping the Sabbath and taking the LORD's name in vain, are violations against our neighbor. If you break the Second Greatest Commandment, you will break the First. This is why Jesus said that the whole law depends on the Greatest Commandments.
In Mark's gospel, Jesus said that no other commandment is greater than these. The scribe understood and agreed with Jesus and said that this was worth more than burnt offerings and sacrifices. So, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” Indeed, if we obey the two Greatest Commandments, the Kingdom of Heaven will be ours and all we have to do is, wait for our turn to enter.
