Reflection for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reflection for the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

Remember when you studied Mythology in high school? The stories of the gods were fascinating.  They had many things in common, and some had very specific characteristics.

It must have been difficult for the ancient Greeks and Romans to keep track of which gods wanted what at any time of the year.  They were, for the most part, fearful, unapproachable, demanding, unpredictable, unreasonable and often vengeful.  You wouldn’t want to get on the bad side of those powerful beings who held your life in their hand.

Then God intervened in the human scene. He didn’t make threats: He made covenants, Of love. “If you will be Mine, I will be yours.  When you need Me I will be with you.  When you are lost. I will find you.  I will be your God, and you will be my people.”

Those words were an astounding thing to hear from God.  What a privilege to be loved by God. And, He asked us to love Him in return.  I can’t remember ever reading in Mythology that any protagonist ever said, “I love you” to one of the gods.

And so, here we are in 2023 hearing Jesus say in today’s Gospel, “The greatest commandment is this: love the Lord Your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” He is commanding us to love Him, because only His love will make us free, whole, holy, fulfilled and complete.

This is no myth. It sounds unbelievable, and counterintuitive given all our faults and sins, but it’s absolutely a fact that our God seeks us, longs for us, and loves us into being, hoping that we will love Him as He loves us. Let us not take this invitation, this gift for granted.  We are defined by our God Who created us for Himself, in His own image. So let us live our lives by that fact, and come to love our neighbor as ourselves because we are made in the image of God who is a lover, and asks us to see everyone else as made in His image as well.

Wouldn’t that bring peace in the Ukraine and the Middle East, in broken families and contentious relationships; in toxic workplaces, political arenas and in your heart and mine?

We don’t need a 14 Point Peace Plan.  We need our own God who is tailor made for each of us.

Aren’t we blessed to have been loved by Him?