[ Today's Readings ]
Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God;
you have collapsed through your guilt.
Take with you words,
and return to the LORD;
Say to him, "Forgive all iniquity
We return to the LORD. We come back to him and ask for forgiveness because he wants heal us, to love us freely, to be like dew for us and to make us blossom. He humbles us, but only in order that we can eventually prosper and bear fruit.
We know what Jesus asks of us.
Jesus replied, "The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Occasionally, like the scribe, we try to ask if there is something else, something better, something more "spiritual" on which we can focus. We want a distraction. But Jesus helps to convict us that love is meant to be our first priority. When we acknowledge that, we hear, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God." Yet somehow, the answer, even though we more or less know it before asking, is a little bit frightening.
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
We need not fear what love entails. Love gives life in ways that nothing else can. So let us commit to love. Let us ask for forgiveness for the times when we fail to love as we ought.
If only my people would hear me,
and Israel walk in my ways,
I would feed them with the best of wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would fill them.
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