After the scribe in today’s Gospel (Mark 12:28-34) complimented Jesus for correctly answering his question about which is the greatest commandment, Jesus complimented him for his insight into the core of Torah, one of the two required prayers specified in the Law.  In Hebrew it looks like:

Sh’ma Yisra’eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad. 

Translated into English: “Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.”  This is the commandment that God gave to Israel, to believe in the One God and to love this merciful God with all one’s heart and soul and might.  Then Jesus added the second great commandment:  “to love one’s neighbor as one’s self.”

It seems that today’s Gospel is also pointing directly at us Christians living in this century.  What insight can we receive from pondering the meaning of the great Jewish prayer, the Shema?  For one thing, we believe and profess our faith in Jesus, the fulfillment of Torah.  However, if we forget that Jesus, the Beloved Son of the Father, lived and taught the deepest meaning of the Law; if we succumb to spiritual dementia, we will lose sight of what our faith is really all about.  Then what will we have left?  Only our own resources which will fall far short of saving ourselves. 

In today’s world, we find that many Christian sects go off in different directions.  Sometimes, in expressing their faith, various groups have forgotten the long-standing historical relationship Christianity has with Judaism.  If we ever forget that Jesus was the embodiment of Jewish faithfulness to God and God’s plan for the world, then we have spiritual dementia.  Yet, to recognize and understand this relationship, brings with it an insight into what our Beloved God wants for all of us, not just some of us.  “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” is the high moral code for the Family of God.  And “neighbor” is not just the person living next door or in the neighborhood.  Neighbor is every other human person on the planet.  “For God made his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain to fall on the just and on the unjust.” (Matt. 5:45) Everyone has the opportunity to decide when and how he/she will act toward another. 

So what does God want of us?  The Heart of all hearts wants our love and wants us to show it to each other.  For the Divine Presence is all around us, if we but look for It.  And when we find It, open our hearts to It, we will then be filled with Insight and the sharing of great Joy.  Blessings to you all.