There is a legend about a boy named Emmanuel who came from an African nation. He was always asking questions. One day he asked, “What language does God speak?” No one could answer him. He traveled all over his own country but could find no one who could tell him what language God speaks.
Eventually, he went off to other continents in search of the answer. One night he arrived in Bethlehem, and, as there was no room in any of the inns, he went outside the village in search of shelter. He arrived at a...
There is a legend about a boy named Emmanuel who came from an African nation. He was always asking questions. One day he asked, “What language does God speak?” No one could answer him. He traveled all over his own country but could find no one who could tell him what language God speaks.
Eventually, he went off to other continents in search of the answer. One night he arrived in Bethlehem, and, as there was no room in any of the inns, he went outside the village in search of shelter. He arrived at a cave and saw that a couple and an infant occupied it.
He was about to turn away when the young woman spoke to him, saying, “Welcome, Emmanuel, we’ve been expecting you.” The boy was amazed that the woman knew his name. He was even more amazed when she said, “You have been searching the world over to find out what language God speaks. Your journey is over. Tonight you will find that God speaks the language of love, which is expressed in sharing, understanding, mercy, and acceptance.”
The Pharisees in today’s Gospel passage are trying to trip up Jesus. They are very concerned with the nuances of language and following the letter of the law while ignoring God’s call to love.
Jesus was a very revolutionary figure, who tried to put aside all the distractions that had crept up in the Jewish faith and to teach people the real language of God, the real relationship that God wants to share with us: that of love.
Jesus’ response to the Pharisees’ question of which law is most important is very simple: First, we love God with all of our being. Second, we love others as ourselves. On these two laws, rest all other laws. All the rules, important as they may be, are nothing if we do not love God, our neighbor, and ourselves. It is this law that gives substance to our lives.
When I was at a youth ministers’ convention in Colorado Springs back in 1994, a youth minister from Baltimore named Robert McCarty spoke about how everyone knows what Catholics are against. While the things we are opposed to are undoubtedly important, we must ask: are they our focus? While people know what we are against, do they know what we are for? Do they know what we believe to be true and good? If they don’t, it’s up to us to speak out in word and action so that people know that we stand for love, that we stand for life, that we stand for spreading God’s love to all people.
We do this through sharing the Good News Jesus came to bring, through our sharing with the less fortunate the gifts God gives us, through working to understand one another, through showing mercy to others. We do this in our total acceptance of God’s will for us in our lives.
God calls us to be a people of love, to be instruments of God’s love in our world, to speak out against evil and injustice, and to do our part to bring peace and justice to our world. This doesn’t mean we condemn others; it means we show others how to love through our example.
In John’s Gospel, Jesus says, “By this shall [people] know that you are my disciples: if you love one another.” (John 13:35)
As we seek to bring today’s Gospel alive in our hearts and our lives, let us pray that God might allow the fire of His love burn brightly in our hearts so that we might show God’s love to all people and that God’s love will be expressed in our love and service to one another.+
