https___wordsofspiritandlife.net_2015_10_31_31st-sunday-in-ordinary-time-1st-november-2015_.xml
http___fra3.net_rijec-o-rijeci_zapovijed-ljubavi-941_1.xml
1.1 2.1 6.1 6.2 6.3 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 8.1 9.1 9.2 10.1 11.1 11.2 11.3 12.1 13.1 13.2 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 15.1 15.2 16.1 16.2 16.3 17.1 17.2 17.3 18.1 18.2 19.1 20.1 20.2 20.3 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 22.1 23.1 24.1 25.1 26.1 27.1 28.1 29.1 29.2 29.3
Theme: WE LOVE GOD, NEIGHBOR AND ONESELF BECAUSE GOD FIRST LOVED US - Deuteronomy 6:2-6; Today is the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Liturgical Year B. The readings today tell us about the greatest commandment of the Law, that is, we are to love the Lord our God with all our soul, all our heart, all our mind and with all our strength, that is, we are to love the Lord our God with our whole person and being! And we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves! Three things come to mind: (i) We love because God first loved us! (1 Jn 4:19) We love God because God first loved us. We love our neighbor because God first loved us. And we love ourselves because God first loved us. Our love for God, neighbor and oneself is only a response to God’s first love for us! (ii) We cannot love God if we do not also love our neighbor! “Anyone who says ‘I love God’ and hates his brother, is a liar, since whoever does not love the brother whom he can see cannot love God whom he has not seen. Indeed this is the commandment we have received from him, that whoever loves God, must also love his brother.” But more importantly, we cannot love our brother if we do not first love God, because love comes from God! “Love consists in this: it is not we who loved God, but God loved us and sent his Son to expiate our sins. My dear friends, if God loved us so much, we too should love each other.” (1 Jn 4:10-11; NJB) H. Fuller (Preaching the Lectionary, 1984) tells us that Jesus joined the first and second commandments in a radical sense: “Love of God is illusory if it does not issue in love of neighbor, and love of neighbor is refined self-love if it does not proceed from the love of God.” (iii) In the year 2007, 138 Muslim scholars, clerics and intellectuals, etc. from all over the world, including 2 from Malaysia wrote a letter to Pope Benedict XVI to dialogue on these two greatest commandments to love God and neighbor! Our Pope accepted the invitation to dialogue, emphasizing that one cannot love God if one does not also love one’s neighbor! The letter was entitled “A Common Word Between Us and You”! (13th October 2007) The common word is love, that is, love of God and love of neighbor! When two of the greatest religions of the world, that is, Christianity and Islam, come together to dialogue on the two greatest commandments of God, there is hope for love and peace in the world! The dialogue is still going on! The first reading follows the theme of the gospel. The first reading also tells us about the greatest commandment of the Law, that is, “The Lord our God is the one Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength.” (Dt 6:4-5; Sunday Missal (SM)) The first reading also tells us that if we keep the commandments of God, especially the commandment to love God, we will be blessed with long life; long life for ourselves, for our children and for our grand children. We will also be blessed with prosperity and fertility so that we will increase and multiply and have many children and grand children! We will also be blessed with a land flowing with milk and honey, that is, a land of grace and a land of abundance! The responsorial psalm follows the theme of the first reading. Thus the first sentence of the responsorial psalm from which the response is taken: “I love you, Lord, my strength, my rock, my fortress, my saviour.” Indeed, the Lord saved us (NJBC) by loving us in his Son Jesus Christ! Thus verses 4. 47 and 51 of the responsorial psalm: “The Lord is worthy of all praise: when I call I am saved from my foes. Long life to the Lord, my rock! Praised be the God who saves me. He has given great victories to his king and shown his love for his anointed.” And thus the response: “I love you, Lord, my strength.” The second reading tells us about the differences between the Levitical Priesthood and the Priesthood of Jesus Christ: (i) The Levitical Priesthood is temporary and transitory, but the Priesthood of Jesus Christ is eternal and permanent. (ii) The Levitical priest is himself a sinner, but Jesus Christ is sinless. (iii) The Levitical priest offers sacrifices every year and according to the letter to the Hebrews, everyday, but Jesus Christ offered himself once and for all! (iv) The Levitical priest cannot save, but Jesus Christ is the only Savior of the world! Today in the Eucharist, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we make present, real and effective the once and for all sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our salvation and today in the Eucharist we receive the Holy Spirit to help us love God with all our soul, our heart, our mind and our strength, and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves! A happy and blessed Sunday to all of you! Amen!
1.1 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 6.1 6.2 6.3
Razmatranje evanđeoskog ulomka 30. nedjelje kroz godinu A Kad farizeji doznaše da bijaše ušutkao saduceje, okupiše se zajedno te ga jedan od njih, zakonoznanac, upita da ga iskuša: Učitelju, koja je najveća zapovijed u zakonu? On mu odgovori: Ljubi, Gospodina, Boga svojega, svim srcem svojim, svom dušom svojom i svom pameti svojom! To je najveća i prva zapovijed. Druga je toj jednaka: Ljubi bližnjega svojega kao sebe samoga! O tim dvjema zapovijedima ovisi sav Zakon I Proroci. Farizeji su bili vrlo strogi u održavanju Božjeg zakona. Poznavali su sve zapovjedi i zabrane, 248 zapovjedi i 365 zabrana, ukupno njih 613. No, problem je bio taj što su se izgubili u šumi zakona, a iz vida im je nestao odnos s Bogom, odnos s Onim koji je ljubav. Od mnoštva drugih manje važnih stvari zaboravili su na Boga. Površno vršeći te zakone potpuno im se iz vida izgubilo ono najvažnije, a to je: prvo, ljubav prema Bogu čitavim svojim bićem; svim srcem, svim umom, svom dušom i svom snagom i druga prvoj jednaka ljubav prema bližnjemu. Samo vršenje često ih je vodilo u formalizam. No, nastupa Isus koji im navješćuje i posvješćuje Božju riječ te im doziva u pamet ono što je najvažnije, što i sami znaju, samo što zaboravljaju. To su dvije zapovijedi ljubavi. Te dvije zapovijedi predstavljaju nam sažetak deset Božjih zapovijedi. Prve se tri odnose na ljubav prema Bogu, a ostalih sedam na ljubav prema čovjeku. One su kao dva stupa koji drže cijeli most. Ako jedan nedostaje, sve pada u vodu. Isus zapovijedi ljubavi ne dijeli, nego ih povezuje u jednu cjelovitu zapovijed: Ljubi Boga i ljubi čovjeka (poradi Boga). Osoba koja iskreno i svim bićem ljubi Boga ne može mrziti čovjeka pokraj sebe. Jer, ako ljubim Boga ljubit ću i sve ono što je On stvorio. Ako volim Boga, tada ću druge ljude ljubiti kao što ih i On sam ljubi. A Bog ljubi svakog čovjeka besplatnom ljubavlju, do te mjere da čak predaje Sina na križ za nas da mi imamo život. Stoga, ne može se ljubiti Boga, a da se mrzi bližnjega pokraj sebe. Bog i čovjek nisu dvije krajnosti, odnosno čovjek nije zlo, može biti zao, ali nikada ne i zlo. Svaki čovjek je Božje dijete, Bog ga je htio zato ga je i stvorio na svoju sliku, sebi slična. Čovjek je zapravo dar, kako sebi samome tako i drugome, dar svima. Dar koji se treba darivati, izgarati za bližnjega, a ne samo misliti na sebe i brinuti se o sebi. Svi smo pozvani na ljubav. Isus nas uči kako trebamo ispravno ljubiti: Boga i bližnjega. Kako se ljubav prema Bogu mora očitovati i u ljubavi prema bližnjemu, bratu čovjeku. Apostol Ivan u ovom kontekstu piše: Rekne li tko: Ljubim Boga, a mrzi brata svog, lažac je. Jer tko ne ljubi svoga brata kojega vidi, Boga kojega ne vidi ne može ljubiti. Uzalud je govoriti da ljubimo Boga, ako ne ljubimo bližnjega. Bog je prvi nas ljubio i uvijek iznova ljubi i poziva svoje stvorenje, čovjeka da mu odgovori ljubavlju. Unatoč njegovim padovima, njegovu grijehu On ga i dalje traži i zove, ali ne da ga osudi ili još više oblati, nego da mu pomogne da se digne i da se vrati u Njegov zagrljaj, da se vrati tamo odakle je došao. Bog nam je u svome Sinu Isus pokazao kolika je Njegova dobrota i koliko je njegovo čovjekoljublje. U Njemu nam je pokazao kako se radikalno živi zapovijed ljubav. On nam je pokazao vidljivim ljubav prema Bogu i ljubav prema bližnjemu.