Living the Jesus Agenda
the greatest commandment
Announcements for October 24, 2020:
The sun should be out on Sunday, so let's plan on our full schedule of Masses this weekend. I'll send a text/email update Sunday morning only if anything changes. If you want to receive these notifications, let me know.
Take a look at our newly revamped Parishioner Portal when you get a chance (scroll to the bottom of any page at www.olmc.church to click the link). I'd like to do more with it, but I'm also interested to know what you think before I make more of an investment.
Our weekend Masses are: Saturday 5:15pm in the church; Sunday at 7:30am and 9:00am in the church; Sunday at 9:00am at Walmart; and Sunday at 11:00am outside.
Please be in touch with me if you need anything at all, or if you'd like to share any questions or concerns.
Dear Saints,
We've got another dynamite Gospel passage this week.
One of the scholars of the law asks Jesus, "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"
Now, there are said to be 613 commandments in the first five books of the Bible (the Torah), so Jesus had a lot to choose from. His response, reflecting his life and mission, is at once radically traditional and thoroughly revolutionary:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
Does that sound more like a prayer than a moral demand? That's because it is. The Shema, which faithful Jews pray as the central part of their morning and evening prayers, contains this exact quotation from Deuteronomy 6.
Which isn't to say that there's no moral aspect contained in the commandment Jesus quotes. In our worship and our prayer, but also in what we give our attention and energy to, in what we dream about and what pursuits and people we give ourselves to - namely, what we love! - we mark out the very center of our moral universe. Who or what takes central spot in our lives? Is it God? Is it me? Is it my family or friends? Is it money, my job, some pleasure or comfort?
It makes a difference. A world of difference, in fact.
Only when God is the center of our lives can everything else find its proper place. Love of God - living totally for God and his purposes at all times - orders all things well, and proper order yields peace.
Put anything else at the center of your universe? Disharmony. Chaos. Disorder.
But isn't it hard, I hear you say, to love God with all your heart? Actually, I'd say it's impossible, save for the fact that Jesus has done it unfailingly and unflinchingly - all the way through and all the way to the end - and he gives us the strength of his own life of love (his own Spirit) so that we can follow where he leads.
This is where we can start to see the commandments not simply as orders to be obeyed, but as invitations and promises to a new way of life that Jesus makes possible for us.
How good it is to live the Jesus agenda together! I look forward to seeing you very soon, my friends.
Christ's Peace,
Father Daniel
δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ
PS Join us for OLMC School's evening open house this Thursday!
Preparing for Mass?
Check out this weekend's readings:
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Christ Crowned with Thorns
Matthias Stom, ca.1633