The Order of Love

“Teacher, which Commandment is the greatest?” – all of us have decisions to make in life – may have huge impact on our own life and other people – not easy to make – different opinions – what’s most important – social media, schools, all have different ideas of what we should do – confusing – most basic things are called into question – even in turmoil in our Church today- where do we go to find the answer? – maybe we can look in the Gospel for answers – a scholar who asked Jesus this question was doing something very wise, asking Jesus – Jesus doesn’t respond by saying “I don’t know” – or “it depends” – “or it’s different for each person, everybody has their own truth”  – Jesus gives a very simple, direct answer – after he answers, then he adds another, and shows there is an order between the two – Jesus says “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind – this is the greatest and first commandment” – second “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” – Father said it’s important to put first things first – that’s what Jesus is talking about, putting them in order – 1^st Commandment says “I am the Lord your God, you shall not have false God’s before Me” – Commandment against idolatry – Idolatry is putting something before God, a creature or item – you can make an idol of someone very close to us, a spouse, friend, child- they may be very good person, but we can have a disordered attitude towards them, putting them first – no creature can fully satisfy our hearts and souls – only God can fully give us happiness – we are setting ourselves up for disappointment if we put creatures first – St. Faustina said,”I do  not expect anything from creatures, and therefore I am not disappointed” – relationships fall apart, and then people right away look for another relationship, instead of putting God first – this just continues the problems – when we put creatures first, we always end up losing the creature – then we lose God because we put a creature before Him – when we put God first, we gain God and all – God can permit us to experience loneliness,  so that we don’t make an idol out of a creature – so that we seek God – St. Augustine said “our hearts are restless until they rest in You” – that’s the key point – God first –   so how should He be loved – Jesus says ”with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind” – and then adds the second Commandment “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” – with this first goes the second, always in order, they go together – how does that make sense? – it makes sense because He is the source of love – Jesus says He is the vine and we are the branches – we are the little branches and if we stay fully united to the vine, sap can flow through the vine and give fruit, the fruit of fraternal love – if you jump off the vine, the fruit will dry up – if you stay united to Him, His love can flow through us, so that what we are giving is not just human love, but is the love which comes from the Holy Spirit – nothing diminishes Jesus love for the Father, but that doesn’t mean He can’t love others, He loves others the way no one else has ever loved people – Christian love is called charity-charity is the way we love God above all – and our neighbors as ourselves – a love that is free and pure, not possessive, or co-dependent – example of the Holy Family, St. Joseph and the Blessed Mother – by putting God first, they were able to love each other in a free, generous, mature way – so often relationships in marriages and our lives have failed because we haven’t put first things first – put God first – essential to take time to be rooted, grounded in love for God above all – that’s the essential formation for life – if you put God first, you may be called to a vocation of marriage, not just a human relationship – then God can guide you to who to marry – also, when is right time? –  sometimes you can rush into something when it wasn’t the right time, or put it off when it was the right time – God can help guide us in all those decisions – many aren’t called to marriage, and called to other vocations – important for a young person to take time before rushing along a path (a God year) – Lord is giving us a great gift, a clear guidance – no matter what stage we’re at, or what bad decisions we’ve made before – if we put creatures first, we end up losing everything, creatures and God –  during this Mass, ask the Holy Spirit are there idols in my life – have I made an idol of some creature – ask our Lord and our Blessed Mother to help us, because she is a good example of putting God first – and then loving others