Love with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength

 When Jesus preaches he adds an important element to the word spoken by Moses to the people. Those words are "with all your mind". This reminds us that we are gathered as body, mind, and spirit in the way we live our lives for the good of creation and the good of our relationships. It sees a sustained relationship between our love for God, our love for ourselves, and our love for others. How we pray, how we think, and how we act are called to proclaim the reality of the realm of God alive and active in our world.

There are probably three elements that emphasize this in the events of the world. The first is the GOP26 conference in Glasgow. What we recognize is that this conference should not be just about words but about action. As Pope Francis gathered with other religious world leaders they stressed three things: the need for actions to be in harmony with creation, that we are called to respect each other but most importantly we are called to be driven by the dynamism of love. "Love is the mirror of an intense spiritual life: a love that extends to all, transcending cultural, political and social boundaries; a love that is inclusive, concerned especially for the poor, who so often teach us how to overcome the barriers of selfishness and to break down the walls of our ego." It is this unselfish commitment to the common good which intends a culture shift for our common home. This is a culture that calls us to reflect on how our actions mirror our words.

It is also significant that this occurs on the days before all hallows where we honour all the saints who show us how our lives are called to bear witness to Christ. Yet more attention is paid to Halloween where the focus is on what drains us of life, what calls us to be like dead people walking and who is haunted by ghosts of ages past. The emphasis seems to be on what deadens us rather than what enlivens us with hope. There can be a sense of fatalism that predisposes us to disaster and an unwillingness to change. It is like horror besieges us at our gates rather than challengings us to stand in the breach against forces that seem to overwhelm us. Yet this is not what is proclaimed at the heart of the Gospel.

In the Word, we are called to examine how our whole life is called to become a love story that encaptures our hearts. There is a call in which we are incarnate people who set our minds on what brings life not death. That the ability to change is not beyond our strength or our ability. This is the imagination that the Church is called to prayer in union with the heart of God at the heart of creation. We are not called to be people who are abstracted users of resources but people who are stewards of the gifts entrusted to us not just for our time but for all time.

This calls us to be people who are open to the spirit of God which draws us together for the good of the whole. The need to examine how we live what we believe not just in our worship but in our lifestyles. This is a love that is called to embolden and strengthen us to be a compassionate presence for the common good. To discover the sacred underpinning of our lives which bears witness to God's creative action in the world. We become co-creators with God in allowing the reign of God to be on our hearts, in our souls, in our considered choices that sustain us and our world.

That I may see!

 Are we called to be observers or participants in life? There is a growing culture of being spectators of the lives of people where we are called to express opinions of who they are. This can cause us to develop blindness which does not see the fundamental worth of the person but rather judges them by their physical appearance. We start to evaluate who a person is through what is external to them rather than what is core to their being who they are.

When we can see this in the people who are on the fringes of our lives who don't seem to fit into our well-ordered lives. We can often silence them either explicitly or implicitly when their voices make us uncomfortable and disturb our peace. This silence is not a place where they are welcomed but rather isolated and forgotten. This can be especially concerning when we start to know how it can pervade not just our daily lives but also our religious communities. When we see how easy it is to not hear the voice of those who are in greatest need.

Jesus always seeks to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed to paraphrase the words of Cesar to Cruz. The artwork of our lives is called to be manifested in how we hold uncomfortable truths with the loving presence of Jesus. This is not to induce guilt or sympathy but rather to notice what draws our hearts into a relationship of communion and solidarity. This call to be authentically ourselves not just in seeing what the world needs but what sets us on fire to become alive. What we are called to hear is not only the voice of those on the fringes but an invitation for them to be welcome into the presence of Jesus.

Servant Leadership

 This is a phrase we may have heard often but not fully understand. Often we imagine leaders being appointed over us to govern us rather than being people who live among us for our good. It is the difference between exercising power and authority. Authority comes about through a person living in the midst of us and sharing the same life as us. There is a responsibility to be at one with others so that we may act for the good of the whole and not just for the individual in power. This is an art that needs to be lived as much as to be learned. 

When we listen to Jesus as he speaks about this leadership we can notice where he directs our attention. This is not about receiving privileged seats at the table but rather a willingness to share in the reality they are called to be present. They need to be people who have open hearts and engaged minds applied to the greater good and not just to their own interests. This calls them to be willing to give their best for the good of the whole.

Yet, we know people in leadership have to balance their own instinct of self-serving and their own weaknesses which can often be exploited by others who seek special favor. It is why we need to pray for those called to leadership whether it is in the secular or religious realm. We need to pray that their faith in God does not fail them or us. They need to be people of considered judgment and great wisdom. To be people who do not trust themselves to their own whims but are gently discerning of the spirit who guides them.

By suffering for others with their lives they raise up a community that looks to the margins. They notice that in listening to those in greatest need they empower a commonwealth of gifts to emerge. It sees each person as created in the image and likeness of God. It builds up a society of saints who are of service to each other by undertaking who they are called to be in what they do.

Why do you call me good?

 This question is raised by Jesus in pointing to God as the source of all good. In some ways, it is a paradox that Jesus points away from himself or even acknowledges what others see in him. However, I believe this has something important to teach in a time of the plenary council. Our goodness is not changed by external acts but through interior conversion. By stating the commandments he is not proclaiming the law handed down by Moses but rather the inherent goodness which underpins this law. He seeks for people to discover this inherent goodness that leads to good acts. It seeks to highlight that loving God with all our heart, strength and mind leads to a love of neighbour as ourselves. That we seek to demonstrate the goodness we discover within us through tangible acts of faith which bring us into deeper communion with God and each other.

At the heart of this movement is persistence in prayer, study and action to seek what is good for our time and for our age. We seek to discover where our true treasure lies. This is why Jesus cautions us against building up wealth based solely on external acts or by visible possessions. He notices that when people life is built on these things it can easily supplant our reliance on God as the source of who brings life. Essentially, this is not by seeing poverty as a good but a recognition that it is through our personal relationship with God that we discover our own inherent goodness. It is a willingness to see our whole life through the eyes of God.

This interdependence of God is not a Christian fatalism where we are called to take a step back from life. Rather it is to see our life's work as found on a spirituality that is truly incarnate. We are body and soul present to the realities of life with a spirit that ennobles and recreates us. There is the internal struggle to be faithful not just to our own thoughts and feelings but to the choices that we make. Our calling is to be people who notice how God's providence is present in our everyday actions. The openness to see God's transforming presence in who we seek to become. This is acknowledged that our lives are shaped by a building up of God's realm on earth. By seeking to build up what is good and ever creative in life. Our true wealth is the investment we make in each other in building up a communion that acknowledges that God is the source of all goodness.

Living by the law or the spirit

 The reading of the gospel this weekend can be particularly confronting in an age when we are familiar with the number of marriages that end in divorce. This is not only devastating for the couple and their families but has a profound impact on their children. People do not make this decision lightly and there is often a hidden wound about whether a person can trust themselves to another with what is most personal and most intimate about themselves. 

When we look at the gospel that Jesus teaches this weekend he looks at how marriage is called to reflect the profound giving of one person to the other. He sees this as a covenant which binds two people in a relationship so close that they become a new person seeking the good in the other. This is not a decision to be taken lightly and we see many courses which seek to prepare people for this relationship of mutuality. It seeks to guide the other to become their best self which builds them up to give freely their love one to another.

This calls for a good knowledge of ourselves and a good knowledge of the other. This is not just an intellectual assent which knows things about the other person but it is a deeper knowledge of the heart which assents to what is fundamentally good about ourselves and that person. It helps us to know how from the time that we are children that we are shaped by our experience, our families and the context in which we live. It takes a time of listening, respect and a discerning spirit to be open and vulnerable to what is deepest about ourselves and the other person. It cannot be rushed or taken for granted. It needs to mature and grow as a person comes closer to the other.

It calls for a person to be faithful to the other not just in bed but in the everyday decisions which draw a couple closer to each other. The way we manage a household, in deciding where they live, it what brings hope and meaning to life and in discussing issues together. This faithfulness is nurtured especially in prayer and in the small daily kindnesses. It calls for an encouragement which notices both our limitations and our strengths. It enables others to grow closer in their capacity for intimacy and vulnerability.

These foundations build the place where children can be welcomed and formed with loving attention. Each child will develop in ways which will amaze, confuse and challenge parents to respond to their individual needs and desires. They will surprise their parents with wonder and grace, with failures and sadnesses but ultimately with hope, faith and love. They will transform their parents by who they are and who they become.

Yet in the midst of these challenges we also pray  for couples who do experience divorce, for single parents raising children and those adoptive parents who seek to care for the formation of children. In all these situations we are called to be people who look lovingly at the real and discover ways that we can support each other to build communities of faith, hope and love. It is about discovering a God who guides us by the love of each other which sustains us in life. To allow God to labour with us to rebuild trust and to discover the good in challenging situations.