The Greatest Commandment, love God above all else, and it's counterpart, love neighbor as self, present challenges that far exceed their easy recitation when we try to put them into practice. Both readings for today, Leviticus, 19: 1-2, 11-18, and Matthew 25:31-46 call us to a change of thinking and behaving that is really meant for our whole life, rather than just for the six weeks or Lent. We're told that to love our neighbor, we need to be people of integrity, honesty, not liars, cheaters or gossipers. We could stop right there and have plenty to work on, but Jesus takes us even further, telling us that in feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting prisoners, sheltering the homeless,and caring for the sick we are actually doing these things for him. St. Mother Teresa did this and her Sisters still do it, showing us that it can be done, but at he price of giving of our time, our penchant for control, and even our financial resources. Talk about a Lenten (lifetime) purification! Makes giving up chocolate or TV look very simple and even petty, as hard for us as these might be, yet doing this for the love of God and the love of neighbor gives us the motivation to stretch ourselves beyond what we think we can do. Just Do It!
Bro. Rene
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