Our Gospel tells us that we are to “to love the Lord, your God.” These words seem easy enough for us to put into practice. A lot people say that they love God, but their actions might show a different reality. Love of God must be something far greater then mere words or a concept that is lightly held to.
Therefore, our Gospel says that we are not only to love, but “with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is a profound sense of love that ought to be held for God. If we were to love God with our whole heart, soul, and mind we would allow Him to be the one who forms us in all that we do.
How many of us truly love God in such a way? There is always something more for us to do, but the one thing that we cannot forget about is that love for God which should be present in our life. It this love which would transform our life, our nation, our culture, and our world. Nevertheless, we so easily live out a life which is divided from our faith or we simply do the religious when it is found to be convenient.
One of the precepts of the Church is that we assist at the Holy Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation. Speaking of which this Wednesday is November 1st and is the celebration of the Solemnity of All Saints which is a Holy Day of Obligation.
Missing Mass for an unjust reason is a reason to partake in the sacrament of confession. It is at Mass that we come to be present with God who pours Himself forth out of love for us in the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity from the wood of the cross. Everything that we do should be informed by this exchange with the gift of God’s grace.
Once love for God becomes entwined into who we are as a human person we have something that we can share with other people. This brings us to the second commandment, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” In this manner we should see our neighbor as one who has been created in the image and likeness of God the Father. So often we allow a thought or idea to creep into our mind which causes us to not love in such a way.
Through both of these commands we are not to simply talk about love, but instead this reality of love must be entwined into every facet of our life. We can do nothing through separation of love for God and neighbor. Let us grow in our love for God and neighbor by growing each day in the virtue of charity. It is this virtue which opens up our heart to love more perfectly as God loves. This is a love that is found to be infinite and without end. Therefore, we can never assume that we have no growing that is to be done when it pertains to this virtue.
Let us have the courage to live out this love for God and neighbor each day. We must come to love Him with our whole heart, our whole soul, and whole mind. What must we put to rest in order for this to be found true within us? Let us be willing to foster such change out of love for God and neighbor.
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