Jesus said that the greatest of the commandments is to love God with our entire being and to love our neighbors as ourselves. How do we do that? Doug Jones, SJ, reflects on today’s gospel on this week’s One-Minute Homily. Based on the readings for Sunday, October 31, 2021.
Time to listen up!
Hi, I’m Doug Jones, and this is my One Minute Reflection.
In today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus recite the Shema, perhaps the most important prayer in the Jewish scriptures. It frames the whole of our faith: God is our Lord alone, and it’s our duty to love God above all else, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
It’s such a short prayer, but how do we live it out? Hundreds of pages of scripture text, and thousands of years of Church tradition later, we Christians are still trying to wrap our minds around what it means to serve God and neighbor.
Maybe it would help if we go back to the first word of the Shema: Hear. Do we listen for the voice of God in our lives today? Do we give God space to speak to us in prayer?
When we do listen to God, when we let God transform us, we draw closer to that Kingdom which God wants us to build.
