MY ALL FOR YOU

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” – Matthew 22:37

I was thinking of what to share in relation to the verse above when God inspired me to listen to a song written by John Keating of the Servants of the Word entitled “My All for You.” I played the CD and listened to it repeatedly while reflecting on the verse.

       My all for you, all else left behind.

       Single of heart, single of mind, single of vision,

       To know and love and serve you with all my soul!

       My all for you, you’ve paid the price.

       In grateful love I offer in Christ:

       In undivided devotion to you, My Lord!

       The song reminded me of the truth that the reason we give our all to God is because He gave His all to us first, including His only Son. It is when we experience this truth in our lives that we are moved by gratitude to give our all to Him as well. As the Scripture says, “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). May we experience God’s love profoundly so we would be moved to love Him with our all, all our days. Teresa Gumap-as Dumadag (teregmps@yahoo.com)        

Reflection: Do we really love God with our all? In what aspects of our lives have we not loved Him the way we should?

Heavenly Father, teach me to love you in the same way that you love. Give me the courage to love courageously so I can give my all to You at all times.

1^ST READING

Ruth is committed to what she believes is her duty, namely, the care of Naomi. This is what her conscience is telling her, so she obeys it. If we continue to read the Book of Ruth, we will see how God blesses her choice and she ends up having a very happy life in her adopted land. It is important that we follow our consciences and do what we perceive to be our duties in life.

1 Once in the time of the judges there was a famine in the land; so a man from Bethlehem of Judah departed with his wife and two sons to reside on the plateau of Moab. 3 Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons, 4 who married Moabite women, one named Orpah, the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Chilion died also, and the woman was left with neither her two sons nor her husband. 6 She then made ready to go back from the plateau of Moab because word reached her there that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. 14 Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth stayed with her. 15 Naomi said, “See now! Your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her god. Go back after your sister-in-law!” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not ask me to abandon or forsake you! for wherever you go, I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge, your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” 22 Thus it was that Naomi returned with the Moabite daughter-in-law, Ruth, who accompanied her back from the plateau of Moab. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord, his God, 6 Who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them. (R) The Lord keeps faith forever, 7 secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets captives free. (R) 8 The Lord gives sight to the blind. The Lord raises up those who were bowed down; The Lord loves the just. 9 The Lord protects strangers. (R)  The fatherless and the widow he sustains, but the way of the wicked he thwarts. 10 The Lord shall reign forever; your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia. (R)

The summary of the Law of God divided into two main tenets — love of God and love of neighbor — is probably known to most people, whether religious or not. It is not enough to simply love our neighbor, as without God we would not have any neighbors. It seems to me that human life cannot just be the result of accidents of evolution — there must have been an intelligent Designer behind the creation of the universe. Let us seek to honor the God who has created us, the One who gave us free will.

34 When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them a scholar of the law tested him by asking, 36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and the first commandment. 39 The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

think:  Let us seek to honor God who has created us, the One who gave us free will.

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Isaiah 33-36

LOVE TO SAVE AND TO BE SAVED

God is love. We were created out of love. We were meant to love. Jesus stressed this fact in the Gospel today when He was asked by a teacher of the Law which is the most important commandment. It is interesting to note that the Jews, out of the 10 original commandments, had developed many other laws in response to the new situations they encountered. However, with all the additions, the very spirit of the Law was lost. Jesus took the opportunity to bring it back by revealing to them the essence of the Law, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” It means that all our being are included in that act of loving God. Jesus also added, “You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Here, Jesus specifies our neighbor as the recipient of that love for God.

       It must be clear that God does not need our love in the same way that we need His or our neighbor’s love. He is love Himself. He commanded us to love Him not for His sake but for ours. It is because when we love God, we realize our true call to be loving. In loving God, we become worthy of being created. Loving God is salvific! Loving God may be praying, praising and thanking Him. It also includes entrusting our lives to Him and making Him everything in our lives. But how is it concretely expressed? The second part of Jesus’ teaching of love comes in handy here. Our love of God is best expressed through our neighbors, and the best way to love them is by applying the same standards we apply to ourselves.

       Christian loving is willing the goodness of our neighbor. Goodness is not limited to material or physical goodness, but more of spiritual goodness. It is applying loving actions that will lead to your and your neighbor’s salvation. We love to be saved and help others be saved, too. When we regard God, love transforms into a saving action. This is but obvious in the sense that God loves us to save us. When we respond to that love, we cannot but love Him, too, for the sake of salvation. Fr. Benny Tuazon

REFLECTION QUESTION: Do you love the people in your life for your own benefit, or do you love them for their own good?

Lord, remind me to always check my motivation for loving people.