In Sunday’s gospel we hear the Jewish leaders, the Pharisees, and Sadducees, who are trying yet again to catch Jesus at something to prosecute him. While their question, “What is the greatest command?” was meant to be a trick question, Jesus answered the way any good Jew would have answered. It is called Shema law, “Love your God with all your heart; with all your mind; with all your soul” and it would have been inscribed over the doorpost of any good Jew. They would have been in little containers, which they would wrap around their arms and put on their forehead as orthodox Jews to remind themselves in a prayer, which they would say every morning and every night before they go to bed.
This would not have been an unusual answer. But Jesus deepened it with the second part of the first law, which is to love your neighbor as yourself, which also was part of the Jewish 613 other laws to live the Ten Commandments.
All of us Catholics have heard this Shema law over and over again: Love your God with all your heart; with all your mind; with all your soul; love God and love your neighbor. That is not where the struggle is. We all intellectually can give assent to this—no problem. It is actually doing it that is the problem. Furthermore, the challenge from the second reading on Sunday is that we are called to love “joyfully.” Pope Francis is constantly challenging us to love joyfully and not to be sourpusses. If we are to love joyfully all our neighbors then we will need to be thoughtful and creative.
Let me give you an example: In the middle of COVID pandemic, Ireland took the shutdown very seriously. Ireland is divided into 32 counties, and nobody was allowed travel outside their county lines except for emergency authorized visits. They are not allowed to go any more than 6 kilometers beyond their house for any reason except for a doctor appointment or some other approved visit.
That is the context. My brother and his wife have triplets and it was their 10th birthday. As you will remember, children really struggled with all the restrictions and did not really understand what was going on, they just wanted to play and have company. The isolation is very difficult. For my brother and his triplets, it was their 10th birthday and nobody could come to visit them and they were so sad!
My sister, who loves them dearly came up with a very creative idea. They live in a different county about 12 kilometers apart, but the cemetery is equidistant between them; and it is just on the county line. My brother and his wife took the three kids to visit grandpa and grandma at the cemetery. And that was allowed. My sister went to visit my mother and my father in the cemetery. And that was allowed. They happened to meet at the cemetery! Surprise birthday party at my parents’ grave! Love finds a way. Love finds a way to break through.
This is our collective moment to live the Gospel. Let’s get creative in the way we love. We know the law. May we come up with some simple creative ways inside our household and beyond to share that love with one another. May we open our hearts and our minds to those who are struggling; to those who have no home; to those who have no place. Let their place be in our hearts because we are called to love one another as God has loved us. Let love find a way!
Please pray for all the St. Simon parishioners and friends that are attending the retreat today. We are praying for peace and for the Holy Spirit to come among us, to deepen our connection with God and strengthen our relationships with one another. We come with open hands and open hearts as we celebrate the fesat day of St. Simon and St. Jude. We will spend the day learning, praying, reflecting, singing, and praising God together with shared meals, conversations and various avitivites that the retreat team have put together. It’s going to be a beautiful and inspiring day!
On Wednesday, we celebrate All Saints Day with Masses at 6:30am, 8:30am and 7:00pm. On Thursday, we will begin our All Souls Novena and will pray for all our departed loved ones, if you have loved ones, you would like rembered, you can fill in the online form here.
Finally, next Tuesday, November 7th is the “Giving Thanks” Senior Luncheon in the Simon Room for seniors 55yrs+. If you would like to attend, please register here so the cooks know how many to expect.
God bless,
Fr. Brendan