The Art of Love

Dear friends in Christ, in our gospel reading this Sunday, Christ responded to the question about which commandment is the first of all, by citing the first part of a very ancient prayer called the Shema, which is found in our first reading from Deut. 6.4-6. The Shema was a prayer that the people of God recited at least twice a day, on special occasions, and taught their children through generations – Deut. 6.7. What is at the basis of this prayer is the idea that the Lord is the One and only God. It is an expression of belief in the oneness and incomparability of God. The different nations, which surrounded the people of God in the OT expressed beliefs in different gods, but none of them is Lord- “Adonai.” God is one and He alone is the “Father almighty.” This profession of faith is meant to guard us against every form of idolatry- in Deut. 11.13-21.  Based on this self-evident truth, the Shema calls for an all-consuming love for God: with all our heart, all our soul, and all our might. This threefold demand encompasses all our being; “a love that is unreserved, all-demanding, at all times, in all places and in all circumstances.” This prayer, hence, is like a short manual in the art of loving.

The heart is the seat of emotion and desire. Our emotions and desires help us to think and feel certain ways, and to reach for goals that lie outside of us. When we know that God is our beginning and our ultimate goal, then we must see our passions in His light and pursue them in as much as they lead us to Him. To love God with all our heart means to employ all our emotions and desires in developing an all-consuming love for God.

Our soul is our deepest spiritual aspect, which encompasses both our biological and psychological elements. It is the part of us that yearns most for fulfillment. Without this foreknowledge that the Lord is our God and only Lord, the temptation will be to seek fulfillment in the things that He has created- Num. 15.37-41. To develop this all-consuming love for God, we must always yearn for Him with all our soul- our life force, and also instill this yearning in our young ones- Deut. 6.7.

The people of old understood the demand to love God with all our might as having a double meaning. On the one hand is our individual strengths and on the other hand is our material (financial) means. It is basically a demand to love God with all we have by being mindful that they all come from Him as a gift. All our strength and material means should be used to the praise of God and for his service.

As the supreme lawgiver and perfecter, Christ joined the love of God and love of neighbor as the greatest commandment. The more one perfects the art of loving God, the easier it becomes to love one’s neighbor. Try reciting this prayer, and when you do, replace the word “Israel” with your name and see how it sounds. Do have a blessed Sunday.

Fr. Martin