The Great Commandment

The 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Play Sh'ma)
Today’s Readings: Dt 6: 2-6; Ps 18; Heb 7: 23-28; Mk 12: 28-34

There was a very sad article on race and health in last Sunday’s The (Champaign) News-Gazette [Link to article]. It talked about the effects of subtle and not-so-subtle discrimination against African-Americans. According to this story, the life expectancy for blacks is 9.3 years shorter than for whites. Some of the other disturbing findings are that people of color receive poorer health care than whites; they are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS; their rates of infant mortality, low birth-weight and disease are greater than for whites; and many, many other disturbing disparities. Even so-called “middle class” blacks, the article reported, aren’t middle class like whites because of so many differences in their backgrounds and upbringing.

The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution officially abolished slavery 140 years ago. President Lyndon Johnson signed sweeping Civil Rights legislation in 1964—more than forty years ago. Why, so many years later, are black people still suffering and so unjustly burdened?

Today, the news is filled with sexual minorities struggling for equal rights. We hear how they are opposed in every quarter of society—including the legislature, the judiciary, the military, and even many churches, schools and organizations. Maybe it’s because people are frightened or feel threatened by anyone who happens to be different. Maybe they’re jealous… that goes back to Cain and Abel. Look at the distrust and enmity between Jews and Arabs. That struggle goes back to the time of Abraham.

But today’s gospel message is abundantly clear. Jesus tells us that love is the greatest commandment in biblical law. With just four concise sentences, Jesus sums up the entire Old Testament for us. Love God with every fiber, breath and cell of our being. Then love our neighbors as ourselves. Love ourselves as we love our neighbors. This Great Commandment is a teaching for every culture, every generation, every nation.

We all fall short and miss the mark in loving God, our neighbor and ourselves. Intentionally or unintentionally, we practice intolerance and discrimination. We may not even realize it, but our action or inaction causes great pain and suffering for many people. Sexual minorities are more visible and (quote) “accepted” than ever before—or are they? We freed the slaves and gave them every opportunity, right? Ancient history, right? A dark chapter of our history, but a closed chapter, right?

Then how come blacks are 50% more likely to have heart disease then whites or 140% more likely to have diabetes? Or why do blacks, who make up 12% of the population, account for almost 50% of the HIV/AIDS cases?

Sometimes we Catholics forget. At the same time the Civil War was brewing, Irish Catholics—your ancestors—were the target of the so-called Nativist movement. There were beatings and killings and terrible discrimination against the hordes of Catholics flooding our lily-white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant shores. Even Samuel Morse, the inventor of the telegraph, ran for mayor of New York City in the anti-Catholic nativist party. It was socially and politically acceptable. Wrong, but acceptable.

Yes, there was—and is—discrimination against many groups: Jews, Asians, Arabs, even drinkers of alcohol… It’s scary to think that some of our toughest laws may do little more than enforce some outward courtesy, while our hearts remain cold and dark.

Christ, of course, peers easily into our hearts. He expects—no, he demands—that we follow this first and greatest commandment. As he told the scribe today, to understand this is not to be far from the kingdom of God.

Scholars of the bible tell us that “the law” given by Moses was actually 613 different laws covering every aspect of life, worship, morality and justice. These 613 comprise the most backward and the most exalted laws, the most primitive and also the most enlightened laws. Are we to accept them all uncritically and without distinction between them? Hardly. Jesus often took the religious authorities of his day to task for their selective interpretation of the law to benefit their selfish interests. They were experts at emphasizing the peripheral and minutiae of their faith to get what they wanted. Today, we might cynically say, “Follow the money.”

But Jesus, as always, is masterful in cutting through the politics and greed, the insecurities and egos. He reduces everything to such a simple proposition: love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength… and love your neighbor as yourself.

The Lord knows that to live like that is very counter-cultural. We’re sometimes going to have to fight city hall, our families, our friends, and maybe even our religious guides. That is the price of genuine love. That’s how Jesus got onto the cross.

In the words of today’s psalm, may the Lord truly be our shield, our refuge, our stronghold in fearlessly allowing ourselves to love. To this may we all truly commit ourselves.