"He replied to him, 'You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.'" In today's Gospel a scholar questions Jesus about how to gain eternal life. In case anyone ever wonders whether heaven is within reach, one only needs to refer to this Gospel. Jesus provides a clear answer that gives us a clear plan of action: We are to love God with all that we are, and also to love our neighbors. Really, it's that simple.
The scholar, however, complicated things to make himself look better. Instead of accepting the simplicity of Jesus' instruction, he wanted to split hairs, asking, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied with the story of the Good Samaritan -and the lesson that our neighbors are not just those we know or love. Rather, our neighbor is the person that needs our help, the person whom we would rather ignore, the per-son whom God puts in our path. In short, everyone is our neighbor and we are called to treat everyone with mercy. This is part of how we gain eternal life.
"He replied to him, 'You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.'" In today's Gospel a scholar questions Jesus about how to gain eternal life. In case anyone ever wonders whether heaven is within reach, one only needs to refer to this Gospel. Jesus provides a clear answer that gives us a clear plan of action: We are to love God with all that we are, and also to love our neighbors. Really, it's that simple.
The scholar, however, complicated things to make himself look better. Instead of accepting the simplicity of Jesus' instruction, he wanted to split hairs, asking, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied with the story of the Good Samaritan -and the lesson that our neighbors are not just those we know or love. Rather, our neighbor is the person that needs our help, the person whom we would rather ignore, the per-son whom God puts in our path. In short, everyone is our neighbor and we are called to treat everyone with mercy. This is part of how we gain eternal life.
But this flows from the first element of Jesus' answer. First and foremost, Jesus instructs us to love God "with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind." When we love God in this way, truly as the Lord of our life, then loving our neighbors becomes the easy part. When our hearts and minds are full of the love of God -who loves all people-then it will necessarily follow that we too will desire to share that love with others and not count the cost.
The Good Samaritan is an excellent example of this kind of love. Without hope of repayment, he gave of his time and his money to help the poor victim. But in return, the Samaritan will surely "gain eternal life."
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