Oct. 29, 2017: 30th Sunday A
Oct. 29, 2017: 30th Sunday A
Click to hear Audio Homily
Some years ago, I had a chance to visit the Temple Mount located at the Old City of Jerusalem. It’s the holiest site for Jewish people because on it stood the ancient Jewish temples of Solomon and Herod. The temple was destroyed in the year 70, yet there stands a surviving remnant of the temple -- the Western Wall. Even till today, Jewish men gather at the Western Wall to pray. One prayer that is prayed frequently in the Jewish tradition is the Shema: “Hear O’ Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead, inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” These prayers and precepts come from the Book of Deuteronomy and Numbers which are thousands of years of old.
The Shema prayer is the centerpiece of the daily morning and evening prayer services and is considered by some the most essential prayer in all of Judaism. As faithful Jews, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph stopped three times each day to pray together this prayer. In fact it was prayed by Mary’s parents, her grandparents, her great grandparents, and generations before them. What was the purpose for this command to pray? From the very beginning of time, God called us to love Him and to be that love. He called us to be in relationship with Him. But our sins got in the way. Laws were given to bring us back, but instead we emphasized following rules and regulations which separated the person from God rather than uniting them to God. Jesus was sent by God to place us back in relationship with God showing us how to truly love Him.
For Jesus, the prayer life, the law and the Commandments, and the love of God are all in unity. Jesus understood that His Father’s love is holy, just, and pure, seeking only what is good and life-giving. Therefore, the Father commands us to love likewise; to give what is good, lovely, just, and pure and to reject what is destructive, evil, or deadly. Jesus summarized all of God’s whole law in two great commandments, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
How do we keep relationship with God in the forefront of our mind throughout the day? I noticed that when I was at the Western Wall among the throngs of Jewish men, they kept their heads covered with skullcaps and all wore prayer shawls. The skullcap is worn as a sign of recognition that there is Someone above who watches their every act. The prayer shawl, for these men, is a sign of constant devotion to God. Rather than a cap or prayer shawl, God asks us to be in relationship with Him by the way we treat our neighbor. Do we love God so much that we would never hurt our neighbor? Do we love God so much that we would never lie, cheat, covet, or commit adultery against our neighbor? God knows that how we treat others reflects the relationship that we have with Him. God puts us first in his thoughts and concerns - do we put him first in our thoughts through our concerns for our neighbor? What keeps us from deepening our relationship with God and our neighbor?
Click to hear Audio Homily
The Shema prayer is the centerpiece of the daily morning and evening prayer services and is considered by some the most essential prayer in all of Judaism. As faithful Jews, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph stopped three times each day to pray together this prayer. In fact it was prayed by Mary’s parents, her grandparents, her great grandparents, and generations before them. What was the purpose for this command to pray? From the very beginning of time, God called us to love Him and to be that love. He called us to be in relationship with Him. But our sins got in the way. Laws were given to bring us back, but instead we emphasized following rules and regulations which separated the person from God rather than uniting them to God. Jesus was sent by God to place us back in relationship with God showing us how to truly love Him.
How do we keep relationship with God in the forefront of our mind throughout the day? I noticed that when I was at the Western Wall among the throngs of Jewish men, they kept their heads covered with skullcaps and all wore prayer shawls. The skullcap is worn as a sign of recognition that there is Someone above who watches their every act. The prayer shawl, for these men, is a sign of constant devotion to God. Rather than a cap or prayer shawl, God asks us to be in relationship with Him by the way we treat our neighbor. Do we love God so much that we would never hurt our neighbor? Do we love God so much that we would never lie, cheat, covet, or commit adultery against our neighbor? God knows that how we treat others reflects the relationship that we have with Him. God puts us first in his thoughts and concerns - do we put him first in our thoughts through our concerns for our neighbor? What keeps us from deepening our relationship with God and our neighbor?
