Friday 3rd week of Lent
"Mk 12:28-34"
One of the scribes asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?" Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
The man asked for "the first" commandment, but Jesus answered quoting 'the first and the second'. There is a poem written by Leigh Hunt about a man called Abou Ben Adhem who woke from his sleep one night and saw an Angel writing the names of those who love God in a book. "And is mine there?" inquired Abou. "Nay, not so," replied the Angel. "I pray thee, then," said Abou, "write me as one who loves his fellow men." The following night the Angel came again and displayed the names of those who love God and Abou's name topped the list, making the point that true love of God and true love of our neighbour are like two sides of the same coin.
But this charity has to be lived in practical ways. We need to take to our prayer the people who are around us and think of particular acts of charity that they would appreciate. Some are things that you 'can do'. Some are things that you 'shouldn't do'. It can help to write down a list of things that we can do for others and check it in our examination of conscience to see if we have loved our 'neighbour' with deeds.
In 1940 a train was taking some Jews to a concentration camp. A 15-year-old girl was travelling with her little brother who was 8. Separated from their parents, they were scared. Suddenly the girl realised that her brother had lost his shoes and burst out in anger, "For goodness' sake! Couldn't you be responsible for once in your life and take care of your shoes?!" Almost 80 years later she was telling the story in tears. She never saw her little brother again. Those were the last words she said to him. She made the resolution to never say anything that she would regret if they were to be the last words that someone would ever hear from her.
Mary, my Mother, help me to always be charitable in my words, to take care of what I say and how I say it...
