There are hundreds of ancient commandments in the Torah, outlining how Jewish people should live. They include a myriad of rules for worship, prayer, temple services, fasting, cleanliness and sacrifice of animals.
So, it may have surprised those gathered around Jesus when a scribe asked which was the most important of those laws. Jesus answered simply: Love God and love neighbor. Those listening were so surprised that “no one dared to ask him any more questions.“
Not just love God, but to do it “with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”
And, “love your neighbor as yourself… There is no other commandment greater than these.“
But, how much of our hearts are free to love as expansively as God loves us? Maybe not all of our heart and soul is available to love because it is previously occupied – or pre-occupied. Jesus says love with our whole hearts, minds and souls. But our minds are filled with racing thoughts; our hearts distracted by family matters. Our souls are busy trying to be holy.
Pope Francis calls these many preoccupations the “hidden idols” in our lives; the things which capture our hearts and attention. Rather than connect with God or neighbor, I think of my own needs, and what others think of me. Maybe I can’t love with all of my heart because a large segment of my heart is filled with resentments or judgements of others. Perhaps I use the space in my heart and mind to nurse my grudges or tend past wounds. How much anger fills my heart with those I refuse to forgive?
How do we free up that occupied space in our hearts to love God with our whole selves? We want to focus our whole minds and hearts, but how? If we begin to focus by making a commitment to daily prayer, that promise can have a profound effect on our lives.
Prayer is a relationship with a real, loving entity, a God who loves us more than we can imagine. The shift happens when we move from “saying prayers” to praying in the sense of entering into a personal relationship, which centers on a sense of closeness, accompaniment and intimacy.
What do we want to thank God for? What do we worry about? What are we facing today? What do we want to ask of God? Speak, then listen. What is God asking of us? Where do we feel “sent” by God today? How can we serve our God whose profound love understands and forgives us over and over?
Being more aware of our relationship with God will naturally make us more aware of our Neighbor. When we are no longer looking inward at ourselves and our needs, we have love of God and the strength to help us look beyond ourselves. With a stronger relationship with Jesus, we can open our eyes to those who need us the most. We can forgive those who have wronged us. We can love those who are most unlovable. All of these are the Neighbors Jesus wants us to love.
Loving Jesus, I want to say I can’t love the same way you do. I’m weaker and less generous. But when I connect with you, I feel your love filling my soul and your strength, sending me on my way. With your hand to guide me, I will love those around me and have my eyes open to those who need me the most.
Maureen McCann Waldron
The most important part of my life is my family – Jim my husband of 47 years and our two children. Our daughter Katy, a banker here in Omaha, and her husband John, have three wonderful children: Charlotte, Daniel and Elizabeth Grace. Our son Jack and his wife, Ellie, have added to our joy with their sons, Peter and Joseph.
I think family life is an incredible way to find God, even in (or maybe I should say, especially in) the most frustrating or mundane moments.
I am a native of the East Coast after graduating in 1971 from Archbishop John Carroll High School in suburban Philadelphia. I graduated from Creighton University in 1975 with a degree in Journalism and spent most of the next 20 years in corporate public relations in Omaha. I returned to Creighton in the 1990s and completed a master’s degree in Christian Spirituality in 1998.
As our children were growing up, my favorite times were always family dinners at home when the four of us would talk about our days. But now that our kids are gone from home, my husband and I have rediscovered how nice it is to have a quiet dinner together. I also have a special place in my heart for family vacations when the kids were little and four of us were away from home together. It’s a joy to be with my growing family.
Writing a Daily Reflection is always a graced moment, because only with God’s help could I ever write one. I know my own life is hectic, disjointed and imperfect and I know most of us have lives like that. I usually write from that point of view and I always seem to find some sentence, some word in the readings that speaks right to me, in all of my imperfection. I hope that whatever I write is in some way supportive of others.
It’s an incredibly humbling experience to hear from someone who was touched by something I wrote. Whether the note is from someone across campus or across the world, it makes me realize how connected we are all in our longing to grow closer to God.
