Dear parishioners, visitors & friends, In Judaism in the time of Christ, observance of the commandments was more like a mental exercise than a life-giving experience. People wore the laws around their waist. With about 613 commandments in place, it was simply hard to remember every one of the laws and the obligation to observe them was simply rigorous. No wonder people found themselves enslaved and prisoners of the law. One of the missions of Christ was to perfect and make the law observable. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them,” (Matthew 5:17). The Scribe who came to Christ, asked a question which had been a debated issue amongst the teachers of the law. In the gospel of this weekend: ‘one of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that Jesus Christ answered them well, he asked Christ, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbours as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Then the scribe said to Christ, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘God is one, and besides God there is no other’; and ‘to love God with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbours as oneself,’—this is much more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question,’ (Mark 12-28-34). The linking of the two fundamental aspects of Jewish life and faith by Christ was something quite novel. No one before Christ realised the invisible link between love of God and love of people. Religion for Christ is loving God and loving people. In other synoptics, there is no hierarchy of the commandments like we have seen in Mark. While Matthew appears to have made a subtle distinction between love of God and love of one’s fellow human beings, Matthew does underline the fact that the second commandment is not inferior but similar to the first commandment (Matthew 22:39). Luke speaks only of one commandment without any distinction between love of God and love of neighbours. In response to an expert in the law, who stood up and, in order to test Jesus, asked Him what he might he might do to inherit eternal life, Christ’s reply was: “What is written in the Law?” The man answered: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbours as yourself’” (Luke 10:25-27). The only way we can prove our love for God is by our love for our fellow human beings who are made in God’s image and likeness. In the John’s gospel, what is mentioned and underlined is love of our fellow human beings. “I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another,” (John 13:34). Christ does not only tell us how to love, Christ shows us how to love and how love can find concrete expressions both in divine and human relationships. “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen,” (1 John 4:20). The Scribe willingly agreed with Christ that love of God and love of our fellow human beings is the greatest of all the commandments. He even went further to add that such a love was far better than all sacrifices. Here he was was affirming what his people knew and believed. “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams,” (1 Samuel 15:22). Hosea heard God say: “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings,” (Hosea 6:6).
Mahatma Gandhi was one person who was deeply interested in religions as a way of life. As an Indian born in a place, with so many religions and where people were saturated with religious ideas and spirituality, religion, for Gandhi, was not something, which just happened within a place with no existential implications or lived experience. Gandhi’s mission was not only to humanize religion, but also to moralize it. His seven social sins are a comprehensive list of behaviours that cause serious harm to society. These social sins include: “Politics without principles, business without morals, wealth without work, knowledge without character, pleasure without conscience, science without humanity and religion without sacrifice.” The centrality of love in Christianity is such that it’s at the core of the Christian faith. There is no Christianity without love. In fact, Christianity without love is like “politics without principles, business without morals, wealth without work, knowledge without character, pleasure without conscience, science without humanity or religion without sacrifice.” “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them” (1 John 4:16). We can be sure that we are on the path to heaven when we genuinely and truly live and love. God bless you all. Fr. John Ikechukwu Echewodo Parish Priest
Saints of the Day
Christmas 2018 Mass Schedule 
