Today's Gospel

Check Your Heart

Welcome back to "Radical and Relevant," where each day we're taking a look, a listen to the Gospel reading of the day, to explore the genius of Jesus, the genius of the Gospel, and to realize just how radical the Gospel is still 2,000 years later, and how relevant it is still 2,000 years later.

Today, we have one of these epic readings that we hear a lot, and so it's especially important that we tune in. One of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?" Jesus answered, "The first is here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." And the second is this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." There is no other commandment greater than these. And the scribes said to him, "You are right, teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other but he.

And to love Him with all our heart, with all our understanding, with all our strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that He answered wisely, He said to Him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions. And so we've come out of this section of three or four days where people are trying to trap Jesus. And today, the question is which is the greatest of the commandments? And clearly a trap. Always Jesus responds brilliantly and practically. But what jumps out at me is the word whole. Jesus talks about, "And you shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength." Wholeheartedness is a mighty rare thing in this world. Think about it. When is the last time you did something wholeheartedly, like with your whole heart undivided, undistracted, weren't thinking about other options that you had, but you were just all in wholeheartedly. It's not an easy thing. It's not an easy thing in lesser things, never mind when it comes to giving God your whole heart, your whole mind.

And so it's important that we recognize that it's difficult. Because if we approach something that's difficult thinking it's going to be easy, we will give up because we will get discouraged. So let's realize it's difficult to love the Lord your God with your whole heart, mind, body, and soul. That wholeheartedness is difficult in anything. Let's think today about wholeheartedness and where God is calling us to wholeheartedness in our lives today. Have a great day and remember, be bold, be Catholic.