Heart, Soul and Strength

This week we celebrated the Festival of the Saints. That sharing in the Glory of the Risen Christ of those who have gone before us. It is also an invitation to the living as stated in 1 John 3:2 “We are already the children of God but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed”. Therefore we are on a pilgrimage of discovery and growth as we learn how to live with God and allow ourselves to be loved by God. In essence this is the question asked of Jesus in the Gospel of this Sunday “Which is the first of all the commandments”? Jesus did not prioritise, rather he summarised the commandments as a way of life that allowed one experience the love of God and neighbour.  Drawing from the Book of Deuteronomy Jesus takes the “Shema”, a prayer at the heart of the Jewish faith, a prayer recited each morning and evening from the Jewish Prayer Book.  This prayer acknowledges a people listening to their God “Listen, Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord.”  In our listening to God through the scriptures, in our reflection on the mystery of God in life, in the mysteries of the rosary, in the stillness of our prayer of quiet or our sacred space we allow ourselves to discover and to experience the God of love with us.  We are called to be people of communion with God and with neighbour.  The reading from Deuteronomy calls on us to love the Lord with our heart, soul and strength.

Heart  To-day one tends to see the heart as the centre of love and affection.  At the time of writing of this text it was understood as the centre of all human life, emotional, spiritual and intellectual.

Soul  The soul was also understood as breath, the breath of God in us.  The Jewish Prayer Book focuses on the soul as “O my Lord, the breath-soul which you have set within me is pure; you have created it, you have fashioned it, you have breathed it into me and you have preserved it within me…”

Strength  In this context, strength refers to our possessions as well as our ability to work.  We are invited to commit our person, our work and our possessions to the service of God.

To-day we rightly speak about “life balance” as the demands of society brings fragmentation due to work, travel, financial demands etc…  Could our readiness of being loved by God in our heart, soul and strength bring about an integration and love that acknowledges the love of God and the love of neighbour as one.

Fr. Brian Moore, C.M.

5th November, 2006