31st Sunday Of Year B
November 2006
'To love God with all your heart, with all your understanding and strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself, this is far more important than any burnt offering or sacrifice.'
Love is made up of many intertwined strands such as forgiveness, tolerance, respect, generosity, availability etc.
How careful I am to attend Mass every Sunday and how neglectful I can be about visiting my relatives and friends.
How reverend I am when I receive the Eucharist and how casual I can be in criticizing those who have received with us.
How contrite I am in the sacrament of reconciliation and how bitter towards those who have bested me.
How generous I am in my expectation of God's attention and patience and how niggardly I can be when others encroach on our 'quality' time.
How great my expectation of God's unqualified forgiveness and tolerance and how vengeful I can be towards my competitors.
In Matthew 5 the whole thing is put in a nutshell - "So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering."
This is true religion and gives meaning to all the rest.
Without this 'I am no more than a gong booming or a cymbal clashing.'