Word to the Wise
Thursday, June 8, 2023 - Thursday in the 9th Week in Ordinary Time
[Tob 6:10-11; 7:1bcde, 9-17; 8:4-9a and Mark 12:28b-34]The scribe said to [Jesus], "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, He is One and there is no other than he. And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding, he said to him, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God." [Mark]
The Pharisees and the Sadducees have had their turn the last couple of days. Now a scribe asks a question about the priority of precepts in the Mosaic Law. There were 613 precepts. Where should the emphasis be? Jesus responds with one from Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and one from Leviticus [19-18]. These two commandments are paramount. Everything else is to be read in the light of these. Love of God and love of neighbor are two sides of one coin. [cf. 1 John 4:20-21]. Jesus commends the scribe (the only time he does this) for his understanding. The "burnt offerings and sacrifices" take their significance from these two commands.
There is a lesson in this encounter that we Catholics might need to ponder. We are a church with an enormous treasury of liturgical tradition and observances. The sacraments are only the most important of those observances. We can fall in love with these actions as being the most important expression of our faith. But Jesus (and that scribe) tell us that what is more important is love of God and of neighbor. It is the neighbor who is the expression of the Body of Christ. Jesus' sacramental presence in the Eucharist is not all there is to the Body of Christ!! When we "receive communion" we cannot exclude everyone except Jesus! The Last Judgment scene in the Gospel According to Matthew [25:31-45] is a good reminder of this. "Burnt offerings and sacrifices" come later [cf. Matt. 5:23-24]. AMEN