Our Lady of Lourdes (Optional Memorial)
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Daily Meditation: Mark 7:1-13
You have set aside the commandment of God. (Mark 7:9)
It was an easy trap to fall into. In their zeal for the faith, some scribes and Pharisees created layers and layers of practices designed to protect them from “contamination” from the Gentile world around them. Most of these practices weren’t part of the Law of Moses, but that didn’t seem to matter. Over time, these layers began to complicate and eclipse the true nature of the Law—to the point that some people were able to turn the Law on its head.
In contrast to the complexities that these traditions introduced, Jesus focused on two simple, fundamental commandments: love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:30, 31). Every single commandment of the Lord can be summed up by these two verses from the Torah.
But no matter how simple these commands are, they certainly aren’t easy. How can we love everyone all the time? There are times when we can barely tolerate members of our family, let alone the stranger next door or the coworker who gets on our nerves. How can we avoid the temptation to find excuses and work-arounds that free us from the command to love?
By letting God’s own love teach us how to love.
It may not be easy, but it is simple. Jesus loves you. Not because you do the right things. (No one is perfect.) Not because you embrace every one of his teachings. (Everyone struggles with at least one commandment.) And not because you have shown yourself to be better than other people. (God’s rain falls on the just and unjust alike.) No, Jesus loves you because he looks into your heart and sees how “very good” it is (Genesis 1:31). He looks past the hurts, the resentments, and the unconfessed sin, and he peers right into the center of who you are.
It’s right there, in the center, that Jesus sees the love he has placed in you. He sees your desire to please him. He sees the goodness and purity that God created you with. And what he sees pierces his heart with love. With joy. With compassion. It’s this gaze that can melt our hearts and teach us to love as he does—simply, mercifully, and equally.
“Jesus, teach me to love.”
Genesis 1:20–2:4
Psalm 8:4-9