Deacon’s Corner
A word from Deacon Ed
“My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” We are promised this by Jesus. And in today’s Gospel, a Pharisaic lawyer tries to trap Jesus by asking Him which of the Commandments is most important. Jesus says, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” How can we love someone we have never met, so completely? Especially if we have never experienced true parental love, or have been deeply hurt by a mother or father. The great news is that we have both written and oral tradition telling of the love of God and His son, Jesus. It is through these sources that we beget hope.
The hope of a love that is far greater than any love we will ever experience on this earth. St. Paul in Corinthians refers to Faith, Hope and Love as the three theological virtues. He says the greatest of these is love.
There was a recent video broadcast on many channels of a young girl who was in the process of being adopted. She had stayed with foster parents for a while and came to really like them, and now they were attempting to adopt her. The video showed the moment she received the good news. Her excitement and joy were overwhelming. She threw the herself completely around her new parents in what is best described as a bear hug. The love expressed by both the new parents and the child was the epitome of what love should be and yet, but a fraction of the love that God has for us. That same love overwhelms us when we open our hearts to God and allow Him to enter in. That same love can also be very evident when we freely give that love to others. There is a great joy that enters our heart when we love others with no expectation of having it returned. When we act out of love both for God and neighbor, the following eight commandments are easy to follow when our life is based on love. The breaking of those commandments comes from indifference and hate. Love is the easy part. It comes naturally.
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