Dear Parishioners,
 
The gospel this week reminds us that Jesus did not seek to complicate people’s lives.  We tend to think that the people of Jesus’ time were less sophisticated or less busy than ourselves, but nothing could be further from the truth.  The ancient world imposed a much more difficult life than we can possibly imagine.  All modern conveniences that we take for granted were entirely missing from their lives.  Let alone the acquisition of one’s daily bread, which was also not to be taken for granted.
 
Jesus had no wish to impose further hardships on His Jewish brothers and sisters and today’s gospel reminds us of the simplicity of Jesus’ teaching.  In the face of aggressive questioning by a scholar of the law, Jesus simply says, “Love God and love your neighbor and everything else will fall into place”, but the love Jesus speaks of suggests a very powerful emotional bond with God and neighbor, which is, for most of us, a lifelong challenge.  To focus one’s heart, soul and mind entirely on these two things is daunting for any human being.  Our hearts, souls and minds can be very fractured places. Often times even inhospitable places.  Many people spend a lifetime unable to be happy in and of themselves let alone loving God and neighbor unconditionally.
 
We see before us a gospel of less than six sentences yet overwhelming in what Jesus is asking us to do.  The scholar of the law could not have been happy with the answer Jesus gave him.  We, however, should see it as a powerful reminder of how much work each one of us must do to truly become a child of God and the living embodiment of Christ’s love and witness to a world in need.