Depend on These Two

August 22, 2008

Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Then he said to me: Prophesy over these bones, and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: See! I will bring spirit into you, that you may come to life. Ezekiel 37:4-5

You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:37-39

Piety

Pray the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary today with special reflection on the final mystery, The Coronation of Our Lady:

The "splendor of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is "enriched from the first instant of her conception" comes wholly from Christ: she is "redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son." The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person "in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" and chose her "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love."

(From http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/meditations/glorious.html)

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/082208.shtml

Jesus is asked something very specific. "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" Not what are the top ten list. Not what are the top three. Not what are the top two.

The human nature to find the gold medal winner is certainly understandable as we slog through the final days of the 2008 Olympics. We often read about the medal count over…the gold medal count…and all the rivalries. But the media, and by assumption the public, just care about whose number one. Just like the Pharisee in today's Gospel.

Jesus could not care less about number one. He has never allowed himself to be trapped by the scribes and today is no different. When people jockey for power and position, he puts them in their place by elevating a child to the top seat or telling the first to go last.

So today, rather than singling out only one commandment, he offers two…two commandments that we must obey. Just as Ezekiel obeys the command to prophesy over the dry, dead bones, we are ask to obey two basic commandments…to love god and to love our neighbors.

Action

Do something today that allows you to take a back seat to someone else. Put yourself second, or third or last as a way of expressing your love of neighbor and obedience to the commandments featured in Matthew 22.