Por Fr. Ed Liptak, SDB

Shortly before dying, Moses spoke to the people about to enter the Promised Land in a sort of last testament. It came in two parts. First, fear the Lord God and keep His Law, and thus earn the reward: long life, prosperity, and a rich land to call their own. But there was a second part: “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone!  Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and all your strength.”Pour out every faculty of your being for the Love of God. Teach that to your children. – No reward is mentioned. But let us add what is implied: Love the Creator God wholeheartedly, for it is He who loved you first with Love divine.

Fear hits us in the pit of our stomachs. Love strikes the whole of us. Hebrews takes up the refrain by emphasizing the nature of Christ’s Love for us. It is eternal. No greater love than His could possibly be directed toward us. “He is our High Priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, higher than the heavens.” And He has loved us and will love us forever. He died for us! We ought to see this passage as a hymn to Christ’s eternal Love!

Notice that it is the second part of Moses’ last will and testament that Jesus quotes to the scribe who came up to Him in our Gospel passage. “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” Jesus added, “ The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” It seems that in Jesus’day, the people had neglected this. Much was Law, Law, Law, and the wrath of God. That seems to be why, in the sacred hour of the Last Supper, Jesus said, “A new commandment I give you. Love one another as I have loved you.”

Moses spoke to the people poised to enter the Promised Land, and though he spoke of both fear and Love, that second part seems to have been forgotten. You and I have heard the perfection of the Law from Jesus. We seek to obey God because we love Him. Oh, yes! We do await a reward. It is Heaven. Nothing of this world would suffice.

“Whoever loves Me will keep my word,  and my Father will love him, and We will come to him.” (Jesus in Jn14:23)