The Golden Rule

   This week's Sunday Gospel reading picks up where we left off last week. When asked Jesus asked what we were to focus on to inherit eternal life a particular scholar answered, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with your entire mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” This is not just something we do when we have spare time it is at the heart of the law and the prophets. The essential element is that our relationship with God will overflow into how we care for others and ourselves. This means that all that is human is intimately connected with what it is to be divine. They are not two separate realities but are interwoven with each other. What enables us to fall in love with God should also be our guiding principle in our daily relationships. Our faith is not about just a privatized religion that is confined to making sure that we make it into heaven. It seeks to embrace all people including those of different faiths and none.

We see this played out in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Where the emphasis in our religious life is only on our own efforts to encounter God then we can neglect those who fall by the wayside. Our intention can be wrapped up in becoming holy in our own right while ignoring that God seeks to renew the whole of creation. Jesus seeks to broaden our vision to seek out how we may reach out to those who are in desperate need of being included in God’s kingdom. This is often by allowing our life to be transformed by God who seeks the good not just of ourselves but for the whole of creation.

As I have stressed before this means that we need to be prayerfully present each day to what God opens our hearts and eyes to see. The time in prayer is not to shut out the world but to allow us to listen to how the heartbeat of God resonates with our own. This is a time of profound silence where we allow God to meet us as we are not as we think we should be. Often scripture, poetry, a form of prayer, or a particular icon or image may be our focus during this time but essentially it calls us to a place where we are present with where God wishes to commune with us.

This calls us to be aware of the environment in which we live and the community of which we are a part. It opens our eyes to notice how we are present to that community and in what ways we can use our gifts and talents for the good of others not just our own. This means that we also need to be thoughtful and considered where we will invest our time and talent. This is about enabling the charism that wells up inside us through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to be given away freely for the good of another not just ourselves. When we allow the Holy Spirit to guide our actions, we seek not just our good but also the good of the whole community,

Lastly, we need to act in a way that allows our prayer and reflection to bear fruit. We do not stand on the sidelines as interested spectators but as active participants. This allows us to see what needs to be done and how we can be engaged in that work. It allows us to be moved by the spirit of shaping our community for good.