Mk. 12:28b-34
The World Mission Sunday of this year was on October 24th, 2021. It was marked by the beatification of Sandra Sabattini at the Cathedral of Rimini in northern Italy. The Church was blessed with another modern young saint after the example of Carlo Acutis. She was born on August 20, 1961. She fell in love with the person of Jesus at a tender age. She always carried a single decade rosary in her hand. She used to have a holy hour before the Blessed Sacrament early in the morning before everyone came to church. The turning point in her life was her experience at the John XXIII community, which is meant to take care of people with severe disabilities. This experience transformed her vision of life. At the age of 16, she confirmed her choice for the poorest of the poor and wrote these words: “Lord, you have given me a great gift: that of wanting to give my life to the poorest. I thank you for this, because although I have not yet exploited it, you have put this great gift in me. I hope to be able to make it bear fruit and I hope to be able to understand how.”
She dedicated her free time to taking care of these disabled people and tried to make known to her parish community their needs. When drug addiction became an alarming issue in 1982, she volunteered to assist those affected by drug addiction. Her dream was to be a missionary in Africa and take care of all the sick and suffering. She joined for the medicine as per her spiritual director’s instruction. In spite of the hectic academic schedules, she found time to engage in the charity work to which she dedicated her life. The divine plan for Sandra was not as we expected. When she was going to meet the community members of John XXIII along with her friend, they were hit by a car. Sandra remained in a coma for three days and left to Our Father’s home on 2 May, 1984. She wrote these words in her dairy two days before her death: “This life is not mine that is evolving rhythmically by a regular breath that is not mine, enlivened by a serene day that is not mine. There is nothing in this world that is yours. Take care of the gift given to you, make it more beautiful and full for when the time comes.” The life story of Sandra teaches us that our option to love our fellow brethren is not an optional choice that we need to make in our faith journey, but rather the fundamental choice that we are called to make. “It is impossible to love God without loving our neighbour.” (Mother Theresa)
In today’s gospel, we see Jesus guiding his followers to the fullness of understanding concerning the greatest commandment. God gave them Ten Commandments through Moses. The first three commandments define their responsibility towards God, and the remaining seven explain their responsibility towards their neighbour. Along with this Decalogue, they had 613 additional commandments which defined their do’s and don’ts concerning their religious, moral and community living. God gave them the Decalogue as a guideline for remaining in his love and fidelity towards him. But in the course of time, the legalistic attitude came in and they tried to value each commandment according to its weightage. As a result, the commandments that defined one’s responsibility towards God weighed high and remaining were neglected. This legalistic attitude caused the formation of a ritualistic spirituality in them instead of an integral and holistic spirituality that gives importance to both dimensions of our spiritual life, i.e., love for God and love for our neighbour.
This imperfect and partial spirituality was one of the intense problems of Jesus’ time because it caused disharmony in all the spheres of Jewish life. The religious aristocracy put up a show to project that they were strictly following the greatest commandment, loving God exactly and perfectly. All their mannerisms were derived from this show man’s spirituality. The custom of fasting on Sabbath day, depositing huge amounts in the temple treasury to show that they give their due share to Yahweh, they widened their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels (Mt. 23:5), the puritan thinking which is reflected in their discrimination against tax collectors, Samaritans, lepers, prostitutes, etc. As a result of this incomplete understanding of the greatest commandment, there was a division between God’s love and neighbor’s love.
Jesus invites them to the original understanding of the law given by God as an answer to the question of the scribe. We can’t compartmentalise love of God and love of neighbor. Both are interlinked just like either side of the same coin. It is true that religious leaders were passionate and zealous about their love for God. However, they failed to recognise Yahweh in their needy brethren. Their relationship with Yahweh was reduced to the realm of fulfilment of certain rituals and sacrifices. They misunderstood Moses’s commandment and took it for granted that it was enough to obey the first three commandments and they could manipulate the rest according to their needs.
Jesus teaches us that we need to integrate both the love of God and the love of our neighbour to become members of his kingdom. Jesus was passionate about his relationship with Abba. He never compromised his moments of personal prayer, observance of the law and community prayer as a Jew. All the same, he did not limit himself to only preaching the kingdom of God but realised it in a concrete manner by reaching out to the last, the least, and the lost through his ministry of healing, liberating, and providing material needs. The scribe who posed this question to Jesus, experienced conversion because he asked this question not as a seeker but to test Jesus. The words of Jesus touched his heart. He recognised the source of wisdom in the person of Jesus. He came into this awareness that our sacrifice for God should include the sacrifice that we make for our fellow brethren. Jesus told him that he was not far from the kingdom of God. Why didn’t Jesus say to him that he was already a member of the kingdom? It is true that the scribe gained new insight, but that alone was not sufficient for him to be a member of the kingdom. Each of us has to make a conscious choice about Jesus and live his gospel by serving our fellow brethren to become members of his kingdom.
As we reflect on this gospel passage, let us ask the same question of ourselves: Are we fully belonging to the kingdom of God? Or are we like the scribe who remains not far from the kingdom? We see among ourselves the tendency to develop a spirituality based on ritual, but excluded from the needs and realities of our needy brethren. Similarly, some dedicate their lives only to the upliftment of their needy brothers and sisters, forgetting the centrality of God in their lives. Jesus teaches us that we need to integrate both these essential dimensions to become his authentic disciples and to become members of his kingdom. As we mediate this gospel passage, let us take a little time and see how we live this spirituality in this pandemic time.