Oblates of St. Francis de Sales

New DeSales World Newsletter - Summer Edition

31ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (November 5, 2006)

Readings Dt 6: 2-6 Ps 18: 2-3, 3-4, 47, 51 Heb 7: 23-28 Mk 12: 28-34

Suggested Emphasis

"Which is the first of all of the commandments?"

Salesian Perspective

When we get right down to it, what is the most important dimension of our faith? Upon what foundation does the edifice of Christianity rest?

Jesus' answer is unambiguous: love.

This love has three dimensions.

Love of God. Francis de Sales tells us that the reason that we love God is because of who God is: our dignity, and our destiny. "We love God because God is the most supreme and most infinite goodness."

Love of neighbor. Francis de Sales tells us: "Love of God not only commands love of neighbor, but it even produces and pours love of neighbor into our hearts. Just as we are in God's image, so the sacred love we have for one another is the true image of our heavenly love for God."

Love of self. This is the aspect that perhaps we are most tempted to overlook: after all, "self-love" sounds suspiciously like being self-centered. Why should we love ourselves? Because, says Francis de Sales, "we are God's image and likeness." When we live up to the sacred dignity that God bestows upon us we are "most holy and living images of the divine."

Why is authentic love of self so critical to our love of God and neighbor? Simply, if we fail to love ourselves, how can we possibly give praise and thanks to God for creating us? If we fail to love ourselves, how can we possibly give praise and thanks for our neighbor who is likewise made in the image and likeness of the same God? And if we can't thank God for creating us and our neighbors (whether we always like ourselves or others being a different matter), what kind of feelings should we expect to have toward the One who is the source of all that is?

The fullness of Christian perfection - the fullness of living Christ's life - can be likened to a three-legged table. To the extent that any one of the three legs is weak, the whole table is unstable. Such a table cannot hope to support any significant weight. So, too, if any one of the three loves of our lives - God, self and others - is deficient, all three will suffer, and we cannot hope to carry the weight of God's command for us to build up something of God's Kingdom here on earth.

To be sure, love is ultimately the simple answer to all that is most important in our lives. In our lived experience, however, we know that this love is never quite as simple as we might like it to be.

Rev. Michael S. Murray, OSFS, is the Executive Director of the De Sales Spirituality Center.