“‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.’” (MT 22: 36-40)
The whole Universe is based on “these two commandments,” which have the same component: “you shall love.” There is nothing more important than love. Whatever we do or think is important and has a meaning when is based on love. We can express our love in different ways, we can use different tools or signs, but the essence will be always the same.
“Teach me your paths, my God, guide me in your truth.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come.” (MT 22: 2-3)
We believe that we are different, that we will never refuse that kind of invitation. And probably this is true with many of us. But still, there are moments when we are not answering to His very delicate invitations, to spend some time with Him, to make a small break to be grateful or to write our gratitude for all His graces and blessings we receive daily. The more we are connected with Him, the more we “hear his voice,” the more we are present, and the more we are mindful.
“If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“Going out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.’” (MT 20: 3-4)
Probably our idea: “what is just” is totally different from Our Lord’s perspective. Our “just” is less generous than Our Lord’s “just.” Whatever we do for Him, His answer is always more generous we can imagine.
“The word of God is living and effective, able to discern the reflections and thoughts of the heart.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life.” (MT 19: 29)
Have you ever consider what is God’s answer to all good we do: “a hundred times more.” We spent an hour to meditate or to read the Bible, or went to the church for the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament; we didn’t lose an hour, actually, we received “a hundred times more.” We donated somebody with a 5o or 100 dollars, Our Lord will bring us “a hundred times more.” We can’t compete with God, Who is always more and more we can imagine.
“Jesus Christ became poor although he was rich so that by his poverty you might become rich.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“‘Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?’ He answered him, ‘Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.’” (MT 19: 16-17)
He had a very good intuition—“to gain eternal life” we need to do “good.” What kind of good? The first answer lies in practicing the commandments. But this is only the first step. The right answer is in the sentence: “There is only One who is good.” He is our “eternal life,” and He is the only One, Who can take us there. We are not “gaining,” working hard, or achieving eternal life; Our Lord is the Redeemer and the source of our salvation. The good which we can practice is the way, how we can imitate Him and come closer to Him, it is the way, in which we practice love, gentleness, respect, and honor.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her.” (MT 15: 22-23)
This Canaanite woman gave us an example of what to do when Our Lord doesn’t answer our prayers, looks like He is ignoring our requests, and even when somebody is also asking Him to help us, He is not doing anything. Today Our Lord shows us what we can do, what we can learn from mothers, how important is to be humble, with a distance to ourselves, and intelligence combined with persistence.
“Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of the kingdom and cured every disease among the people.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, and has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.” (LK 1: 50-53)
It is not about us, about how much we did, or how much we deserve. Everything comes only from Him, is based totally on Him and His love, it is totally His initiative (The Holy Trinity idea, of course). The only thing we are asked to do is to recognize His love and ask for His love, realize our limits and come to His strengths, accept our hunger and let Him do miracles in our lives. Our Lady is a protector of His miracles in our lives.
“Mary is taken up to heaven; a chorus of angels exults.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“He said in reply, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female and said, for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate.” (MT 19: 4-6)
Today we celebrate the memory of St. Maximilian Kolbe, Martyr, Polish priest, Franciscan father, who was killed in Concentration Camp in Auschwitz giving his life for the life of another prisoner, who was a husband; “so they are no longer two, but one flesh.” What is a dignity of marriage, if Fr. Kolbe gave his life to protect just one married man. How important are our Programs, because our Programs protect marriages, couples unity. Lucky we are, we can serve in something bigger than we can imagine.
“Receive the word of God, not as the word of men, but, as it truly is, the word of God.” (Gospel acclamation)
“Peter approached Jesus and asked him, ‘Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.’” (MT 18: 21-22)
We are counting many things: how much it costs, how much we need to pay, how many times we phoned someone, who didn’t answer, how many times we called children to do something… When we start counting how many times we forgive it is good to consider, that we are doing something dangerous, which could put our relationships in trouble. Those who love didn’t count mistakes, they count on Him.
“Let your countenance shine upon your servant and teach me your statutes.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (MT 18: 19-20)
How important is our unity, our gathering together, especially when we pray. God is a Trinity, and He wants us to experience the beauty of being one. This is so visible within marriage and family, this is so important for communities, and teams, who need to work together. Can we imagine our Programs without unity and serving together to others?
“God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (Gospel acclamation)
