(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: http://brothersinchristcmf.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Mass-Blog-for-the-31st-Sunday-in-Ordinary-time-2021.mp3)
In late 1800s America, The Rock of Gibraltar became an iconic image for the newly formed life insurance industry. Prudential adopted it because, according to the company, “a century after the Great Siege, it was still the most famous fortress in the world.”
Gibraltar was actually the site of many great sieges over the centuries because of its strategic location and topographic features. Of this peninsula near the entrance of the Mediterranean Sea it was said that “whoever controls Gibraltar also controls the movement of ships into and out of the Mediterranean.” This “Rock” is virtually impossible to scale on its eastern or northern sides, and its south and west are surrounded by hundred-foot cliffs and steep slopes. Such topographical insurance “works to the advantage of the defender.”
That’s how faith’s assurance that Jesus is the Christ works. As Paul explains in this Sunday’s second reading to the Hebrews (Heb 7:23-28), the insurance Jesus offers mortals is the permanent and unassailable defense of a lifeline for anyone attempting to reach God. Because he remains forever, he’s always there to save those approaching God through him, interceding for them.
“It was fitting that we should have such a high priest,” Paul writes: “holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, higher than the heavens.”
Christianity shares faith in Godly access with our Jewish brothers, whose insurance goes back to Moses. In Sunday’s first reading (Dt 6:2-6) we hear Moses enjoining us, “Fear the LORD, your God, and keep, throughout the days of your lives, all his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you, and thus have long life.”
But insurance is as much about our home as it is our life, for what is life without a home to live in? That was the basis of Christ’s ministry. Several of his parables equate the Kingdom of God to a home whose unscalable walls and narrow entrance protect it from intruders.
In Luke 13:24, when someone asks about access, Jesus says “Strive to enter through the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ He will say to you in reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’”
So in this Sunday’s Gospel reading (Mk 12:28b-34), through one of the scribes who tried testing Jesus’ security system, the Lord gives us the access code to his Father’s house: his Father’s greatest commandments:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
with all your mind, and with all your strength. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
When the scribe demonstrates understanding that these keys are “worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices” previously used to try gaining access to God’s home, Jesus tells him “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
If your own home has a security system, you know that if you’re ever away and the security company notifies you of a breach, they will first ask you for the password to verify your claim to the property. In God’s security system, sharing those two keys to the kingdom with your neighbors is the essence of prudence and proves you’re getting closer and closer to the narrow gate of that Rock upon which our faith is built.
–Tom Andel
Loving God with all our Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength is our greatest challenge living in the world. Probably easier as a monk or in a cloistered monastery when the world’s outside distractions inhibit our ability to do so.
Nonetheless, that is our calling. The first step begins with an active and dedicated prayer life. We don’t need to meet God half way. We need to take the first step toward Him. His grace will do the rest!
God’s greatest gift to us is sometimes our greatest challenge in a free world: our own free will. In that gift God gave us the only thing we can return that He can’t have without our cooperation: our love. That love starts with taking that prayerful first step you call for, Thomas. The old testament is filled with stories dramatizing humanity’s desire to take the easy path–through burnt offerings that substituted for the wisdom of love. Psalm 50 details the “acceptable sacrifice”:
“I will not take a bullock from your house, or he-goats from your folds. For every animal of the forest is mine, beasts by the thousands on my mountains. I know every bird in the heights; whatever moves in the wild is mine. … for mine is the world and all that fills it. … Offer praise as your sacrifice to God; fulfill your vows to the Most High.”
Psalm 51 offer’s David’s response, which should be humanity’s: a free-will offering of love that we share with our fellow humans:
“I will teach the wicked your ways, that sinners may return to you. Rescue me from violent bloodshed, God, my saving God, and my tongue will sing joyfully of your justice. … For you do not desire sacrifice or I would give it; a burnt offering you would not accept. My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a contrite, humbled heart, O God, you will not scorn.”
In today’s world, filled with our ego-driven blindness to the holy spirit of otherness, God desires the only thing we can give that He can’t possess unless we give it to others: the love that comes from a humble heart.
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
with all your mind, and with all your strength. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
We have the safety, prosperity, and God’s Blessings of our country that our forefathers secured for us and that nurture us today. We pray for God’s Blessing to live that teaching each day to love and protect our fellow Americans.
You’re spot on, Ron! Those two greatest commandments have been the keys to our country’s blessings. But, as you imply, we can’t enjoy them as a country unless we live them as individuals. That starts with prayer for the necessary wisdom, strength and courage.