WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:09.039 One of the great tragedies of modern life is that we have become experts in many things and beginners in things that matter most. 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:16.000 We know how to operate smartphones, navigate airports, manage investments, and use artificial intelligence. 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:20.719 We can access almost any information in the world within seconds. 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:25.519 But ask the average person what's the purpose of your life? 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:28.239 And many will struggle to answer that. 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:32.000 You can ask someone, what matters most to you? 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:34.960 And suddenly the room becomes quiet. 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:38.960 That is what makes today's gospel so refreshing. 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:47.039 A scribe approaches Jesus and asks a question that every human being should be able at some point to answer. 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:51.600 Which of the first of all the commandments? 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:54.960 In other words, what's the most important? 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:58.079 What is life really all about? 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:03.600 If I forget everything else, what must I remember? 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:08.239 And Jesus answers with a breathtaking simplicity. 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:15.760 Love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind, and all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:16.799 That's it. 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:19.840 Everything else flows from that. 00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:22.719 Notice what Jesus does not say. 00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:30.719 He does not begin with rules, he does not begin with obligations, he does not begin with rituals, he begins with love. 00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:32.079 Why? 00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:40.719 Because Christianity is not first about what we do for God, it is first about our relationship with God. 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:42.959 The saints knew this. 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:51.120 The greatest saints were not necessarily the most talented, the most educated, the most beautiful, or the most successful. 00:01:51.519 --> 00:01:54.799 They were the people who learned how to love. 00:01:55.680 --> 00:02:00.239 Saint Therese of Lisieux spent most of her life hidden in a convent. 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:03.439 Saint John Bieni struggled academically. 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:08.879 Saint Theresa of Calcutta spent decades feeling spiritually empty. 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:14.879 And yet they changed the world because they loved God completely. 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:19.759 That's why the scribe's response is so remarkable. 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:26.719 He tells Jesus that loving God and loving neighbor are worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:30.719 In other words, he understands something many religious people miss. 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:35.199 Religion without love becomes performance. 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:39.919 Prayer without love becomes routine, a burden. 00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:43.919 Worship without love becomes empty. 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:49.120 The Pharisees often knew the rules but missed the relationship. 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:54.479 The scribes, this scribe is beginning to see the heart of it all. 00:02:55.039 --> 00:02:59.680 That's why Jesus tells him, You are not far from the kingdom of God. 00:03:00.479 --> 00:03:02.319 What an interesting phrase. 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:03.520 Not far. 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:07.199 Close, but not yet inside. 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:08.240 Why? 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:13.439 Well, because knowing the answer and living the answer are two different things. 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:16.800 The scribe understood the truth intellectually. 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:20.080 Now he had to surrender to it personally. 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:25.520 And honestly, that may be where many of us find ourselves today. 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:28.800 Most Catholics know they should love God. 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:38.400 They know they should love their neighbor, but the challenge is not understanding it, the challenge is actually doing it. 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:43.360 Loving God when life is going well is one thing. 00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:48.319 Loving God when prayers seem unanswered is another. 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:54.000 Loving our neighbor when they are kind and wonderful and easy. 00:03:55.039 --> 00:03:59.520 Loving our neighbor when they're when they wound us is difficult. 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:04.240 Loving our neighbor when they agree with us is natural. 00:04:04.719 --> 00:04:10.319 Loving our neighbor when they frustrate us and disappoint us, that's hard. 00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:14.479 Then we hear Saint Paul in the first reading. 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:19.519 Paul is writing from prison, he's in chains, and yet listen to his confidence. 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:22.160 The word of God is not chained. 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:24.800 What a powerful statement. 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:34.079 His body's imprisoned, his circumstances are difficult, his future is uncertain, but the gospel remains free. 00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:37.759 And then Saint Paul gives us one of the most beautiful lines. 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:42.079 If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful. 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:45.680 That does not mean our choices do not matter, they do. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:51.839 Paul has already warned that if we deny Christ, we place ourselves outside of his friendship. 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:58.240 But Saint Paul's point is that God's faithfulness is greater than our weaknesses. 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:02.480 God does not wake up one morning and decide to stop loving us. 00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:05.519 God does not abandon us when we stumble. 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:09.600 God remains faithful even when we struggle. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:12.480 That's the foundation of our Christian life. 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:16.079 Not our perfection, his faithfulness. 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:20.079 Perhaps that is the connection between the readings today. 00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:28.800 The reason we can love God with all of our heart is because we because he first loved us with all of his whole heart. 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:33.439 The reason we can persevere is because he remains faithful. 00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:40.160 The reason we love difficult people is because he continues to love people difficult people like us. 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:45.040 So perhaps today we should ask ourselves a simple question. 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:50.000 Someone watched my life for a week, what would they conclude I love most? 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:57.839 My career, my comfort, my things, my reputation, my possessions, or God? 00:05:59.279 --> 00:06:03.680 Because at the end of our lives, Jesus will not ask how much busy we were. 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:09.120 He will not ask how much money we accumulated. 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:13.360 He will not ask how many emails were answered. 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:18.480 He will ask whether we learned the lesson at the center of today's gospel. 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:23.040 Do we love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength? 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:26.399 And did we love our neighbor as ourselves? 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:29.360 Everything else is secondary. 00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:32.800 Everything passes away and fades. 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:37.360 But love that endures forever. 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:38.319 Amen.