Today’s Gospel is a story of an encounter between Jesus Christ and a questioning Scribe, whose spiritual journey has led him to the discovery of truth and an openness to entry in the Kingdom of God.

For the Jews the question—“Which is the first of all the commandments?”---is an important one because of their focus on the law—the 10 commandments and the 613 precepts of the Old Testament law

These laws got in the way of the real law—the most fundamental law. Jesus took pains to emphasise what was at the heart of the law, the heart of love. He stresses this when he says that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath—the law of love of neighbour is greater than the law of the Sabbath.

We must remember it is God that we worship. The law is not greater than God---the law of love comes from the love of God.

We can obey hundreds of laws and not obey the greatest. We can offer sacrifices and holocaust and not fulfill God’s law.

The scribe has come to understand the truth that the “Lord our God is one God and there is no other.”

He has been on a journey seeking truth and his encounter with Jesus has helped him to come to the root of his faith. It is not rituals and sacrifices and laws but it is the law of love—loving with our entire being—loving God, ourselves and our neighbour.

The scribe has grown in wisdom as he continues on his journey to the kingdom of God.

Our sacrifices must flow from deep love. Many times we make sacrifices for our family, in our work place, in our ministry in the Church but they do not flow from a deep love of God—but from obligation and duty. Therefore we need to get back to the heart of our faith. Our motives in whatever we do must come from love.

When we love someone we want to do what pleases them-- to make them happy we love sacrificially. Sacrifices must not come from obligation but as an expression of our love.

There is also the temptation for us to make our own gods and to get caught up in laws that give us a formula to have our prayers answered and to get us into the kingdom of God.

We tend to look for more ritual practices, more novenas more visits to churches, more devotions and this takes way our freedom to respond to God through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus as a teacher always zoomed into the heart of the matter—to the root of things and so he could lead this Scribe from being tied up with 613 laws to a place of freedom. The crux of their encounter and their dialogue is the law of love--- love God with your entire being; love your self and love your neighbour as yourself.

St Augustine and some of the mystics have emphasised that knowledge of self leads to knowledge of God. It is important to come to know who we are—our weaknesses and strengths; and the obstacles within us that prevent us from giving ourselves freely to God in love. These obstacles also stand in the way of a genuine love for our neighbours, our children, our parents, our colleagues and co-workers in the vineyard.

As I pondered on this reading I thought of my daughter who recently became a mother of a beautiful baby boy--now eight months old.

I was with her at the birth of the child and I will never forget the tender look of love on her face when she held her son. I continue to marvel at her sacrificial love for him. She puts him first and seeks to meet his every need. Her motive in all that she does is not obligation but love.

This is something of what Jesus was getting at—the heart of our relationship with God is love—total love—love with all our heart, all our mind all our soul and all our strength.

The heart of genuine relationship with our neighbour is also love and if love is at the heart of these commandments we will not use them to abuse our neighbour.

In the story the scribe is portrayed as a seeker of truth. He recognises that Jesus has spoken the truth.

He has also come to realise that loving God is “far more important than any holocaust or sacrifice”.

He is also a man seeking wisdom-- a man with insight ---who didn’t get tied up with the 613 precepts of the Old Testament Law. Instead, he came to a correct understanding of the law.

Jesus recognises his sincere desire to learn and says to him “You are not far from the Kingdom.”

Lord we thank you for those persons we have met on our spiritual journey who have helped us to come to a place of freedom—freedom to love God, to love ourselves and to love our neighbour as ourselves.
We ask your pardon for holding on to ritualistic practices and making them gods in our lives.
We pray that we may see the needs of those around us and respond to these needs with kindness, generosity and love.
We pray the prayer of St Ignatius of Loyola:

Take O Lord into your hands my entire liberty
Receive my memory my understanding my whole will
All that I am you have given to me
And I give it back to you to be used according to your good pleasure
Give me only your grace and your love
With that I am rich and I ask for nothing more.

Gospel Meditations for November are by Linda Wyke. An active member of the parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, San Fernando, Linda, a mother and grandmother, is a former Archdiocesan Director of Religious Education.