BASIC COMMANDMENTS – 31st Sunday Ordinary Time, Year B
Since each person is different, the way each person fulfills the two basic Commandments will be as different as are fingerprints. We need to be conscious of the words you and your in the Commandments. In answer to the scribe’s question on the first Commandment, Jesus said quoting Moses’ words from God in the Book of Deuteronomy: “The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength”. I have to love God with my whole heart, my whole mind, my whole soul, and my whole strength. That varies from others. In that sense, fulfilling the basic Commandments will be different for each person. I will not be judged by God in comparison with others.
Some have very little capacity for the love of God, just as some have very little capacity for love of people. Some have great capacities for love of God and neighbor. God has put the basic Commandments in reach of all by saying “…your heart…strength”. That is all any of us have to work with from our side. God’s grace builds on nature. Our imperfect nature will fulfill God’s total and perfect law imperfectly.
The first Commandment is individualized. There are different capacities for the love of God just as there are for the love of people. The Commandment commands us to love according to our individual capacity. At any one moment, if we are loving God with all our strength, all our heart, mind and soul, we can be said to be fulfilling the first Commandment. Some or perhaps most do not possess their whole mind, heart and soul fully. Our nature is broken but redeemed. Only God knows the exact capacity for love of each individual. The Lord doesn’t expect any of us to go beyond the capacity He has given us anymore than He expects an apple tree created to make apples produce berries. We only have to love up to our individual capacity. We don’t expect the identical responses from people. We recognize differences. So does God!
People can fulfill the basic Commandment even while committing sin. People commit lots of sins while they are fulfilling basic commitments to people all the time. Just ask or observe parents, spouses and children. We accept and live with this all the time in our human relationships. People sin against and hurt the very people they are loving. Being perfect by some objective standard doesn’t necessarily mean basic Commandments and commitments are being fulfilled. Being imperfect doesn’t necessarily mean basic Commandments and commitments are not being met. There are lots of people who love God and their neighbor who do not keep all the Commandments out of weakness or the circumstances of their lives.
The second Commandment is also individualized. “The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” We receive in many ways our capacity to love ourselves from others. We have to be loved first before we can love. This starts from the very beginning of our existence. According to how much we love ourselves, we are to love our neighbor. Many people don’t have too much capacity to love their neighbor because they don’t have much love for themselves. We often confuse love of the self with selfishness.
Selfishness is closer to self-hatred than true self love. Selfishness injures the person and is against love. The selfish person lessens their capacity to love others. The one who loves him or herself in a good way increases their capacity to love their neighbor. According to our love for ourselves, we are to love our neighbor. That is the command of the second Commandment. The one who receives more love from others and, therefore, has more love for him or herself is to love their neighbor more than someone who has received less love. Many are offered more love than they are capable of or willing to accept or receive from the Lord or people. The capacity to love is based on how much love offered we have received.
“I love you, Lord, my strength.” Loving God and our neighbor to our fullest capacity and strength is our call.
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