Do you love God with all your heart and all your soul?
In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses enjoins the people to observe all of the ten commandments the Lord has given them. But most importantly, he says, is to love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. This prayer, the Shema Yisrael, contains a summary of the whole of Jewish law. Nothing is left out: the whole of the individual is to be committed God, the source of life and primary object of their love, a love they are to live with the whole of their being. Psalm 18 develops this idea – I love you, Lord, my strength – citing the Lord’s role as protector (my rock, my fortress, my deliverer) as central to that love, a love expressed in God’s care for God’s people.
Jesus will invoke the Shema Yisrael as the center of his teaching as well, making two notable addendums in Mark’s Gospel. First, Jesus adds the words with all your mind, perhaps to appeal to Greek-speaking audiences, for whom the mind was distinct from the heart; for Plato, the mind transcended what the heart could conceive. With heart, soul, mind and strength: we are to love God will everything we have in us, keeping God in our sights with a singular focus. Jesus goes on to say, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. For Jesus, if you love God, you should have no trouble loving your neighbor. Moreover, if you cannot love the one you can see, how can you love the one you cannot see? For, as the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us, it was out of love for us that Jesus offered himself for our sins, making intercession for those who approach God through him. There is no greater love, and it is in this love that we are called to live in return, with love for God and neighbor alike.
This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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