20220819 THE SPIRIT AS THE ANIMATING PRINCIPLE OF LOVE
19 August, 2022, Friday, 20th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | Ezekiel 37:1-14 © |
A vision of Israel's death and resurrection
The hand of the Lord was laid on me, and he carried me away by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley, a valley full of bones. He made me walk up and down among them. There were vast quantities of these bones on the ground the whole length of the valley; and they were quite dried up. He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ I said, ‘You know, Lord.’ He said, ‘Prophesy over these bones. Say, “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. The Lord says this to these bones: I am now going to make the breath enter you, and you will live. I shall put sinews on you, I shall make flesh grow on you, I shall cover you with skin and give you breath, and you will live; and you will learn that I am the Lord.”’ I prophesied as I had been ordered. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a sound of clattering; and the bones joined together. I looked, and saw that they were covered with sinews; flesh was growing on them and skin was covering them, but there was no breath in them. He said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man. Say to the breath, “The Lord says this: Come from the four winds, breath; breathe on these dead; let them live!”’ I prophesied as he had ordered me, and the breath entered them; they came to life again and stood up on their feet, a great, an immense army.
Then he said, ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole House of Israel. They keep saying, “Our bones are dried up, our hope has gone; we are as good as dead.” So prophesy. Say to them, “The Lord says this: I am now going to open your graves; I mean to raise you from your graves, my people, and lead you back to the soil of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. And I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live, and I shall resettle you on your own soil; and you will know that I, the Lord, have said and done this – it is the Lord who speaks.”’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 106(107):2-9 © |
O give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his love has no end.
or
Alleluia!
Let them say this, the Lord’s redeemed,
whom he redeemed from the hand of the foe
and gathered from far-off lands,
from east and west, north and south.
O give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his love has no end.
or
Alleluia!
Some wandered in the desert, in the wilderness,
finding no way to a city they could dwell in.
Hungry they were and thirsty;
their soul was fainting within them.
O give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his love has no end.
or
Alleluia!
Then they cried to the Lord in their need
and he rescued them from their distress
and he led them along the right way,
to reach a city they could dwell in.
O give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his love has no end.
or
Alleluia!
Let them thank the Lord for his love,
for the wonders he does for men:
for he satisfies the thirsty soul;
he fills the hungry with good things.
O give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his love has no end.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:18 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open my eyes, O Lord, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.
Alleluia!
Or: | Ps24:4,5 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Teach me your paths, my God,
make me walk in your truth.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 22:34-40 © |
The commandments of love
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees they got together and, to disconcert him, one of them put a question, ‘Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ Jesus said, ‘You must 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 resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also.’
THE SPIRIT AS THE ANIMATING PRINCIPLE OF LOVE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [EZK 37:1-4; PS 107:2-9; MT 22:34-40]
For those of us who are believers, we would not dispute what the Lord said about the greatest of the commandment of the law. When asked by the Pharisees, He said, “You must 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 resembles it: you must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also.” Jesus was not commanding anything new as these two laws were taken from the Law of Moses as written in the book of Deuteronomy and Leviticus. (Dt 6:5; Lev 19:18) What was unique in Jesus’ teaching was the juxtapositioning of the two laws together. Moses intended the same thing but did not explain it so concisely. The Ten Commandments given to Moses were listed in the order of loving God and their neighbours. The first three Commandments oblige us to love God above all, followed by the other seven commandments spelling out our responsibilities towards our neighbours.
Why is it that the love of God comes first before the love of our neighbours? The truth is that unless we love God, we cannot see the face of God in our neighbours except our own face. In other words, our love for them will be rooted in pure humanitarian concern. We empathize and feel with them because we share in their suffering, pain and hunger. Accordingly, we will respond to their needs inasmuch as we can identify with them. This explains why humanitarian causes are championed by different groups of people who identify themselves more with a particular group than others. In other words, the basic axiom is “Do to others what you like others to do unto you.” Although it is a charitable act, there is also a tinge of selfishness because it springs from our own pain. If we cannot identify with that pain, since we had not gone through that experience, we might not even respond to their needs at all.
Whereas, if our act of love springs from our appreciation that every man is made in the image of God, then regardless of what kind of suffering the person is going through, so long as he or she needs assistance, we will reach out as they show us the face of God. We do not even need to feel what the person is going through. So long as he or she is my brother or sister, when there is a need, we will offer respect and help regardless, simply because he or she is created in God’s image and likeness. This is why killing is wrong because even if the person is a criminal, he or she bears the image of God. Otherwise, we will pick and choose whom we should help. If the person is our loved one or our friend, we will of course provide more help because of emotional ties. This is very natural. If the person is a stranger, we will offer less assistance because we do not know them. Such kind of charity springs from our humanity and our own needs and exposure. Hence, we call this humanitarian aid.
However, the gospel also makes it clear that everyone is our neighbour and deserves our assistance regardless of his culture, language, race, or religion. In the Good Samaritan Story, our Lord makes it clear that our neighbour is anyone who is in need, even if that person is our enemy. Certainly, we are not expected to feel love for our enemy, yet precisely because we see the face of God in that person, and because we love God who is in him or her, and we are all children of the same Heavenly Father, we will love the person as much as God loves him or her. St John wrote, “Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.” (1 Jn 4:20)
However, we cannot do this unless we love God first! This explains why the love of God precedes the love of man. Without loving God first, we cannot love everyone as much as God loves us all. We will only be able to love ourselves in others, seeing them in us. Our love will be limited and inadequate. If St Teresa of Calcutta could love the poorest of the poor, it was not because they are lovable but because she and her sisters saw in them the face of God. When St Teresa and her sisters attended to them, they were attending to the wounds of Christ Himself. And this is because they loved God first before they loved their brothers and sisters. The motivation of service to the poor sprang from their love for the Lord, especially when they celebrated the Eucharist or spend time in adoration before the Eucharist.
Indeed, the truth is that just knowing the laws does not mean that one can fulfil them. We know from history that the Hebrews repeatedly broke the laws even during the time of Moses. The kingdom of Israel was a history of repeated infidelities. This is true for us as well. As Christians, having received the teaching of our Lord in the Beatitudes and the Sermon of the Mount, we also break the Laws no less than our forefathers. Even St Paul expressed his struggle in fulfilling the Law. He wrote, “I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died, and the very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.” (Rom 7:9-12)
To find the strength to love all as God loves us, we need more than knowledge of the law. We need the power to love. This power comes from the love of God in us. St Paul makes it clear, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Rom 5:5) We cannot love with our own strength. We can only love from the love that God puts in our hearts. He does this by giving us the Holy Spirit who is the love of God in person and the animating principle of life. Without the Holy Spirit, just relying on ourselves alone, we cannot love the way the Lord loves us. This is why before the Lord sent out His disciples to preach the Good News, He bestowed upon them the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Indeed, before His ministry, citing from the prophet Isaiah, the Lord Himself explained how He would carry out His ministry of bringing God’s love and mercy to all. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Lk 4:18f) He was filled with the Holy Spirit so that He could find the power and strength to love us the way His Father loved Him at His baptism.
So if we find ourselves like the dry bones in today’s first reading from the Prophet Ezekiel, just like the Israelites who had lost all hope in life and given up on themselves whilst in exile, the Lord assures us that He is going to breathe new life into us. “The Lord says this to these bones: I am now going to make the breath enter you, and you will live. I shall put sinews on you, I shall make flesh grow on you. I shall cover you with skin and give you breath, and you will live; and you will learn that I am the Lord.” Indeed, the Lord says this, “I am now going to open your graves; I mean to raise you from your graves, my people, and lead you back to the soil of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. And I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live, and I shall resettle you on your own soil; and you will know that I, the Lord, have said and done this.” Just as the Father raised Jesus from the dead in the Holy Spirit, so too by virtue of our baptism, having died to our sins in Christ and buried with Him in death, we rise anew to a new life in the Holy Spirit. We become a new creation in Christ and so share in His life, as St Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Cor 5:17) Let us therefore turn to the Holy Spirit who comes to live in us when we are ready to receive Him. It is true we cannot see God but we have seen God in Christ and through His death and resurrection, He breathes His Holy Spirit into us, the love and life of God.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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