Word: The Kingdom of God belongs to those who love God and neighbor.
Order: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mk 12:30-31)
Reflection:
Doubtless some members of the Bukas Loob sa Diyos Covenant Community may have problems instantly calling to mind the Ten Commandments, as they once could. These were very much part of the basic Catechism of the Catholic Church that we learned by heart growing up. However, few of us today can fail to instantly name the two greatest commandments of all: to love for God above all, and our fellowmen as ourselves.
The month of November allows us to re-focus and reflect on these two greatest commandments as declared by our Lord in the Gospel, and to answer the question posed by the scribe, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” And Jesus’s unequivocal reply which served as the basis of our Community Order this month, as discerned by the Executive Council of Servant Leaders (ECSL): “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mk 12:30-31)
The message of Jesus is clear and demands that our love for God encompasses our whole being. It is not to be a half-hearted response, but a full surrender and abandonment of our lives to Him – our heart, our soul, our mind and even our strength. We are to offer all that we are in an all-consuming love that makes us stop living for ourselves and begin living for Jesus Christ.
The love of God can only be expressed in our love of neighbor. “If anyone says ‘I love God’ but hates his brother, he is a liar” (1 Jn 4:20). Love for God requires loving those whom God loves. “This is how all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.” (Jn 13:35). To love one another is an important aspect of our community life and an integral part of our Community Prayer for BLD members.
Week 1 (31st Sunday in Ordinary Time)
For the first Sunday, we are reminded to be mindful of God’s word, obeying it without reservations. Our theme for the week is: Those who love God and neighbor take to heart and obey God’s word. We are to do exactly what God wants us to do, and that is to love Him in the full measure of our being. This stands side-by-side with the command to love our neighbor as Jesus loved us. Jesus died on the cross to free us from eternal damnation. “Greater love has no one than this that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) Who among us would be willing to die for someone else for love of that person? Following Jesus is not easy, but doing so comes with a beautiful promise for this week: “… keep all his statutes and commandments and thus have long life…observe them, that you may grow and prosper.” (Dt 6:2-3)
Week 2 (32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Our theme for the 2nd week focuses on the spirit of generosity: Those who love God and neighbor give their all. Two widows are depicted in the readings. Both are poor, but their act of giving conveys a strong message of generosity and faith. Would you have responded to the knock at your door in the same way the widow Serephath did in the First Reading, giving up the very last meal she had saved up for herself and her son? This is exactly what she did, placing her complete trust in God in an act that did not go unrewarded.
Let us look at the other poor widow, this time, in the gospel. Would you part with the last centavo left in your wallet and give it, as a love offering to the Lord? Would you have placed God’s Church over and above your own personal needs, sacrificing even your own livelihood? In these two readings, both widows demonstrate amazing acts of self-giving and tremendous faith in God. This is what is being asked of us BLD members as followers of Jesus, a total abandonment of our lives to Him. It comes with a promise that is full of assurance: “The Lord keeps faith forever, secures justices for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets captives free.” (Ps 146:7)
Week 3 (33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Our readings for this 33rd Sunday in OT, a part of what is often referred to as the ‘apocalyptic literature’, puts the commandment of love of God and neighbor in its proper perspective as it focuses on Judgment Day. Our theme is an exhortation to remain watchful and ready for the coming of the Lord: Those who love God and neighbor stay vigilant for the Lord’s coming.
When, as followers of Jesus, we feel discouraged on encountering trials as we go about obeying His commandments, our readings for this Sunday give us hope to carry on. The 1st Reading speaks of the wise, shining brightly like stars. This message is repeated in the Gospel when, at the Last Judgment, the Son of Man will come in the clouds. We are reminded to be alert and watchful, for we do not know the day or the hour of His coming. But, as promised in Dn 12:3: “… the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever.”
Week 4 (Solemnity of Christ the King)
The last Sunday of the liturgical year is marked by the Solemnity of Christ the King, which is widely celebrated throughout the Church. It calls to mind God’s kingdom of love, justice and peace on earth of which Jesus is the anointed King. We are to take part in building this kingdom, by testifying to the truth, as our theme for this last week tells us: Those who love God and neighbor testify to the truth in Christ.
The 1st Reading from the Book of the Prophet Daniel speaks of a vision of the Son of Man receiving dominion, glory and kingship. His lordship is further proclaimed in the book of Psalms which declares Jesus as King. From the Book of Revelation in the 2nd Reading, Jesus is hailed as the “Alpha and Omega…the one who is and who was and who is to come…” (Rev 1: 8). And finally in the gospel, Jesus himself proclaims His kingship as not of this world, nor political in nature. As humble BLD disciples, we are tasked to testify to the truth by making God our top priority at all times and by placing our full trust in Him. The essence of lived testimony is to love all – men and women – created by Him in His image and likeness, and called to be His children by divine grace (cf. Catechism 2069).
Christ the King Sunday ends the liturgical calendar and marks, on the following Sunday, the beginning of the season of Advent. We leave the period of Ordinary Time blessed with a strong promise from the Lord: “His Dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed.” (Dn 7:14b)
