God’s greatest commandment
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December 3, 2017Msgr. Leonard Pivonka is pastor at
St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Alice.
The Scribes and Pharisees who were hostile to Jesus tried to trip him up by asking, “which is the greatest commandment?” And Jesus gives his well-known reply “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.” And of course Jesus also gives the second commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”A lot of ink has been spent in reflecting on the love of neighbor in recent times. And it is a topic worthy of continued reflection and action. I would like to give due attention to the greatest commandment in the teaching of Jesus: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.”
This commandment is probably known by heart by everyone who bears the name of Christian. But what does it mean? What does it mean to love the Lord, your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind?
Looking into the details of the greatest commandment is disturbing to some because it requires a surrender of one’s self and one’s life to the Lord God, to a higher power who sets the standards of true life. How would I describe what the Church teaches about loving God? The first thing we learn pertains to the 10 Commandments. Keeping the 10 Commandments is definitely a way of showing love for God.
Loving God above all things, with all our heart means letting nothing become more important than him in our lives. If we are seeking something more than God or placing something above him, then we have broken the First Commandment. We should love God so much that we treat his name and presence with great respect.
We should never use God’s name in an angry or malicious way. That would be breaking the Second Commandment. We show our love for God by attending the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass each Sunday at church and keeping his day holy. We come to offer ourselves, and all we are in thanksgiving, to the Lord each Sunday so that we may deepen our communion with him.
If we fail to present ourselves at Sunday Mass each week without a serious reason, we break the Third Commandment. Loving God is intimately a part of keeping Commandments four through ten. Whether it be showing proper respect and obedience to our elders, respecting the lives and dignity of everyone, keeping marital chastity if we are married or celibate chastity if we are not married, respecting the property of others, always telling the truth and not being jealous of others and their goods. All of these are ways of loving God.
Loving God above all things is what life is all about. If we do not love God above all things, then we will substitute his plan for our lives with our own plans which will always lead us away from him. We can only have one master in our hearts. The challenge is keeping God number one in our lives and the master of our hearts. We have seen people who give their hearts to drugs, to pleasure, to money and to power. These people do not have the love of God in their hearts. They have been mastered by sin.
Recently someone shared with me a copy of “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren. This book is based on the age-old catechetical truth that we must live our lives for God if we wish to be united with him forever in heaven. We must live our lives according to his laws for us. Life is really not about finding yourself; it is really about finding God and then finding God’s plan for you in life.
God is a loving father and he is a just father. Anyone who decides to place themselves above God by not surrendering to his plan for their lives is really unworthy of God’s presence. Jesus said that we cannot serve two masters. We will love one and hate the other because we cannot please two masters. Our hearts were wired to serve only one master. And for Christians that master is the Lord God.
How are we doing in loving God? Do we pray to him everyday? Do we make all decisions in our lives based on his teachings of what is good and evil? Do we reject all that is evil according to the teachings of the Lord? Do we thank God daily and tell others about the goodness of our God? Do we see ourselves as stewards of God’s creation, and not as lords of creation and lords of our lives? Are we living our lives for God?
As we celebrate Mass let us ask God to grant us the grace to love him more and more until our hearts are set aflame with his immeasurable love and goodness.
