“You’ve been on my heart.” “I have my heart set on it.”
“It breaks my heart.” “I’ve put my heart into it.” We’re all familiar with these sayings and others like it and we’ve probably used them ourselves at one time or other in our lives. Using the heart as a symbol, we speak of our involvement in someone or something at the deepest levels, where our most honest thoughts and feelings are to be found. We’re not talking about an impulsive response but one where there has been serious thought and often deep emotions involved. Even in our very fast-paced world, there are some issues or desires or concerns that make us stop and ponder in the depth of our being. In today’s readings, we hear of two incidents where this happens in the relationship between God and his favorite creation – us.
In today’s first reading, we hear a passage that recalls Moses speaking with God’s people whom he has led out of Egypt. They are now at Mt. Sinai and have just received the Ten Commandments from the hand of God. This is not an everyday event. It is, in fact, a defining moment in the relationship between God and his people. In his great mercy, God has freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and is leading them back to the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey, we hear in the first reading. That means the land has plenty of fertile ground where their cattle will be able to graze and so give them plenty of milk and crops will flourish because the bees will pollinate the plants and trees resulting in an abundant harvest of fruits and vegetables – and honey. God shows his love for his people and, in return, calls for them to love him with all their heart, all their soul, and all their strength. Notice, the command speaks first of the heart. As I mentioned a moment ago, this is the deepest level of our being where our honest thoughts and feelings originate. God, in his great mercy, has committed himself to us in our misery from the depth of his being – that’s what the Latin word “misericordia” that we translate into the English word “mercy” means. And, he requires that his people, at the deepest level of their being, commit themselves to God.
In today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus repeat Moses’ command and add the command to “love your neighbor as yourself”, declaring “there is no commandment greater than these.” Yes, as we love God and love and care for ourselves, we are called to love and care one another from the depth of our hearts.
We believe that God is love. By his very nature, God loves. After all, God is a loving communion of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And, God’s love extends beyond himself to all of creation and especially to us – we, whom he has made in his image and likeness. Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has just issued his fourth encyclical entitled, “He Loved us,” in which he explores in great depth the love of God as symbolized by the heart of Jesus.
You will find a summary of this powerful encyclical in this week’s Parish Bulletin and I encourage you to read it. I hope it will lead you to read and reflect on the actual encyclical. God loves us from the very depth of his being. How blessed we are to know this about God. And, as God loves, he commands us to do the same. You will notice, it is not a suggestion or a nice idea – it is a command. God calls us to put him first in our lives, before our worldly goods, our ambitions and everything else that consumes our daily lives, in grateful response to his love for us. He also commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves. Again, this is a command, not a suggestion. And, these are commands because they lead us to the true fulfillment of ourselves. This calls us to put our hearts into this lifelong endeavor.
As we hear in today’s gospel, the scribe greets Jesus’ response with delight, adding that to love God and love our neighbor “is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” This is a direct reference to the practices of the Jewish leaders in the Temple of Jerusalem who were more concerned with burnt offerings and sacrifices because they would fill their pockets with the fees that they imposed on those coming to offer sacrifice than with reflecting God’s love by placing the care of their fellow Jews – in particular the widows and orphans, the poor and suffering – in their hearts and caring for them.
We who already find ourselves so busy in our everyday lives are about to enter an even busier time as Christmas approaches. Soon, we will be invited to share of our abundance with the less fortunate through our annual Adopt-a-Family, Christmas Food Baskets and Mercy Hospice Giving Tree projects. And, many of you will respond with your typical generosity. I thank you for your generous response and invite you to reflect on why you do so. May it be from the depths of your heart and may you put your heart into it because those who receive your gifts will do so with heartfelt thanks!
Speaking of love from the heart and the kingdom of God, we gather here today, just a day after we joined the universal Church in celebrating the Feast of All Souls, to remember all of our loved ones who have died. The candles in front of our altar today recall the 29 members of our faith community – who have touched our hearts – who have passed from this world into eternal life over this past year. And, as they helped to build up God’s kingdom here on earth by setting their hearts on loving God and neighbor, we pray that God will welcome them into his heavenly kingdom. Now, we pray for them. Soon, we will be able to pray to them, that they may help us bring about God’s kingdom in our midst until that day that God calls us to join them. How blessed we are to know that we love not just because it’s a good way to live or a way for us to be loved by others but because, as we take to heart God’s commandments, we build up God’s kingdom in our midst and prepare ourselves for our ultimate goal – eternal peace in God’s everlasting, loving embrace in heaven!