April 1, 2011 The Greatest Commandment

Jesus, I offer today, to you, all of my thoughts, all of my movements, and all the yearnings of my soul. I hope they glorify you. Amen

Mk 12:28-34

Gospel

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
“Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus replied, “The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.”
The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
He is One and there is no other than he.
And to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding,
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

 How can we teach our children this?  Only by modeling it.  If we love God with all our Heart, with all of our understanding, and all of our strength it will manifest itself in charity to others.  My daughter is 3 and my son is 20 months...both copy everything they see.  My daughter copies everything I do because I am constantly with her...and my son copies everything that she does.  When I sit down with them to try to formally explain some part of being a Christian, their attention span is short, and usually both they and I get frustrated by the end of the effort.  I have learned that with my children my actions speak louder than anything that I can say.  I knew this was true before I had children, but now I really know it! ( It's funny how life has a way of teaching you things you already knew, transferring what you knew in your mind, to knowing it indefinably in your heart.) 

 If I focus my energy upward to God, it will show itself in the way I love others.  My children will see this and hopefully mimic it, the way they mimic my not so lovely attributes:)

 Jesus, I love you with all of my heart, my mind, my soul, and my body.  I want to serve you in everything that I do...help my children to see this and love you. Amen