THE SOUL OF LOVE

REFLECTION FOR THURSDAY OF THE 9^TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

(2 Tim 2:8-15; Mk 12:28-34)

1.0. The Order of Love

Love is as real as it is elusive. We have strong passion to love as well as to hate! It is generally acclaimed that the language of love is universal, yet we never can fully understand what it says. However, if we listen in meditation to the discussion between Jesus and the Scribe, we shall see how love is concrete or instituted. It is the human will or desire, which is in motion that makes love appear elusive.

Before now, the Pharisees and the Herodians came to test Jesus with Ceasar’s coin. Afterwards the Sadducees arrived to ridicule the resurrection. Today the Scribes, who seemed to be the more educated, questioned Him about the greatest commandment. Jesus was pleased with this question, and He answered immediately that the first and greatest commandment is to love the one Lord and God with all of one’s heart, soul, mind and strength. “The second is this: You must love your neighbour as yourself.”  The numbering is important if we are to grasp the language of love. God comes first; He is the source and destination of love. But where does human love reside?

2.0.  The Soul of Love

Love is in human heart, soul, mind and strength (flesh). Notice that love is not in words! But words can express what is in the silence of the heart, soul, mind and strength. When all our heart, soul, mind and strength are in touch with the love of God, then the whole person is taken up in love with God. Thus every other commandment will fall in place since all aspects of the person cannot go contrary to the love in which it dwells. The love of God is a consuming fire! (Cf. Heb 12:29). Therefore, to love my neighbour as myself makes me a means to pass on God’s love to my neighbour. We see here how love is structured and instituted in the human person in so far as he is suspended the love of God.

Meditating further on the discussion between Jesus and the Scribe, we come to understand that love is devotion. It is the rendering of all principles of our existence first to God, and secondly, the communication of the whole self to our neighbour. Hence, we cannot claim to love if our heart and soul are not involved. True love must be related to peace of soul. And lovers continue to speak to each other even in silence! That is why the greatest means of speaking to God is through contemplative prayer. Love in the soul is the soul of love.

3.0.  The Glory of Love

“When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, ‘You are not far from the Kingdom of God.’” Love is like the cloud of heavenly glory that envelops us and our neighbour in God. It is a taste of God’s kingdom. That is why we must never use love to deceive or hurt anyone since God is love. Such hurt cries to God for vengeance! Abuse of love begins when one cuts himself off from the love of God through sin and worldly life. But he who dwells in love dwells in God (1 Jn 4:16). If we are true to God, our love will be true. Then we see that love is not elusive but has a solid root in God, with authentic expression in our neighbour.

Lift up your heart to God today; let your soul savour the sweetness of God’s presence. Love God with a human heart; feel this energy of divine glory within you. Pause in meditation; be silent and imagine the beauty of God’s love for you. Put aside the worries of life for a moment, and let your heart, mind and soul fly to God’s love for you. Then step forward and show some acts of love to those around you. For “If we have died with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we endure with, we shall also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He also will deny us; if we are faithless, He remains faithful—for He cannot deny Himself.”

Fr. Jude Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,

Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.

Thursday June 4^th, 2020.

HOPE IN THE RESURRECTION

Reflection for Wednesday of the 9^th Week in Ordinary Time

(2 Tim 1:1-3, 6-12; Mk 12:18-27)

Let us meditate on the encounter between Jesus and the Sadducees, who deny the resurrection. Imagine these men standing face to face with Jesus, who Himself is the resurrection and the life! They came with a smart question to disproof the resurrection. Their debate was like the struggle between life and death. For them, the resurrection meant an elongation or continuation of earthly life. If there is no resurrection as they claimed, evil will go unpunished and the good will end in the grave. And there would not be any hope to inspire righteousness. Then the earthly life would be a burden unto itself. Death will be a god to religion and worship!

We have modern day Sadducees even in our Churches who acknowledge the resurrection but practice a death-laden worship of God. Their faith and prayers are all centered on getting married, boosting their income, health and well-being, etc. If they do not meet their material targets, their faith may fail. And anywhere they hear of prosperity in the name of God, you see them at the front seat. Where does this error come from?

Jesus answers that their misunderstanding about the resurrection came from their lack of knowledge of the Bible and the power of God. When people do not read the Bible or misinterpret its content, they will be thinking smart like the Sadducees, following wrong doctrines, and misrepresenting the resurrection. Jesus said to them, “He is not God of the dead, but of the living; you are quite wrong.”

Jesus came that we may share in His resurrection, and live today with an eternal hope. “So, alive or dead, we belong to the Lord” (Rm 14:8). That is why the Holy Spirit is given to us to inspire us with the power of the resurrection so that we can carry out our daily works in holiness and with a shining hope. St Paul in the first reading said that we should not be timid like people who have no hope. With courage and the power of God each day, we carry out our responsibilities, sharing in the suffering of Christ. “For God did not give us a Spirit of timidity but a Spirit of power and love and self-control.”

Yes, we may meet obstacles that smell death. People with wrong ideas and beliefs may challenge our hope in the resurrection. Disappointment and struggles of life may summon us to account for the resurrection as the Sadducees did to Jesus. Yet, we must remember that Christ Jesus “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” We are serving a living God. May this be our testimony today. AMEN!

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,

Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.

Wednesday June 3^rd, 2020.

Memorial of St Charles Lwanga & Companions.

THE CORNERSTONE

THE CORNERSTONE

Reflection for Monday of the 9^th Week in Ordinary Time

(2Pet 1:2-7; Mk 12:1-12)

Have you ever tried to help someone but he sees it as an opportunity to take advantage of you? Human greed and injustice is at its worst in the parable of the vineyard that Jesus narrated in today’s Gospel. It is interesting that we walk into the month of June with such a beautiful story, which assures us of God benevolence and patience in leasing out His treasured vineyard to His trusted servants. All He required of them was to give Him what was His due. And what belonged to Him in justice was clearly spelt out.

But, how can God’s servants offer back to Him what they know ought to be given to Him if they did not appreciate the treasure entrusted to them as an act of love? Without love there cannot be justice! In their greed they thought that giving God what was His due would reduce their enjoyment of the fruits of the vineyard. Thus, they acted like modern day secularists who think that denying God a space in human affairs will guarantee their control and self-emancipation. Think about those moments that prayers seemed like infringing on our happy hour! So they killed the prophets; they criticized religion and blamed the Church for failures of society.

Surprisingly, the Master remained patient and consistent in His plan for His beloved servants. He put in the greatest sacrifice in order to get the tenants to obey. Finally He sent His Son to them, saying, “They will respect my Son.” Imagine the great hope He bestowed on His Son that where the prophets failed, His Son would succeed. Reflect on the great assurance His placed on His Son on this journey that through His Son His plan for the vineyard would be fulfilled. This hope cannot be in vain!

However, the greedy servants said to themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.” So they thought, but the Blood of the Son saved the vineyard from the hands of the evil ones. In the death of the Son, the plan of the Master was fulfilled; the hope placed in the Son shines out. “The very stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone...” Yes, the vineyard of the Lord is the House of Israel (Is 5:7)—God’s chosen people.

Therefore, let us build our lives and homes on Jesus the Cornerstone. Greed and secularist lifestyle want us to believe that putting God aside will give us a sense of self-emancipation. In Jesus we return back to God what is His due. Unless we build on Christ the rock, we stand on a shaky ground. St Peter gives us a practical way to stand on the Cornerstone in the first reading: “For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.”

St Justin the Martyr, Pray for us. Amen.

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,

Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.

Monday June 1^st, 2020.

Memorial of St Justin de Martyr.