LOVE IS MORE THAN SACRIFICES   

June 3,  Thursday

 

NINTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

 As the setting of Tobias is the time of the exile, marriage according to the Jewish law was very important, so as to avoid syncretism through mixed marriage. Hence, the marriage of young Tobias and his bride is presented as a beautiful marriage.

As there were so many rules of the Law to observe, it is easy to understand the desire of scribes to ask which was the key commandment. Twice a day pious Jews professed the “Hear, Israel,” with the love of God unique and very important. Jesus attaches to it love of neighbor too, as a total commitment that he will practice on the cross.

 

First Reading: TB 6:10-11; 7:1BCDE, 9-17; 8:4-9A

Then they entered the city limits of Media and were coming close to Ecbatana when Azariah made an announcement.

“We’ll have to stay at Raguel and Edna’s home tonight. They’re relatives of yours with an only child, a beautiful daughter named Sarah.

“When it comes to marriage, you should be the first in the relational line, and she has all the ancestral qualifications. As for her personal qualities, she’s smart, strong, and attractive. What’s more, she’s the apple of her father’s eye.

“It’s okay for you to marry her. I’ll speak with her father tonight. of course, Raguel may want to deny you this privilege, but he can’t. He knows Moses’ rule: If a father gives his daughter to another man who is not a relative, that poor fellow will be punished by death. That means marrying kin is always superior to marrying someone right off the street or from a foreign country or with a different religion.

“Pay attention now to what I’m saying. Let’s discuss all this with them tonight and set up the engagement between you and her. Then, when we return home from Rages, we can bring her to your house with all deliber- ate ceremony.”

            “So this is Ecbatana. What’s the quickest way to Raguel’s house?” an eager Toby asked Azariah.

They soon found the old gentleman sitting by his courtyard gate. They greeted him, and he returned the greeting. “Had a good trip?” he asked. “Looks as though you boys arrived in one piece.” Raguel led the way into the house, chattering right along. “do come in.”

Then Raguel absented himself, went to his f lock, singled out a fine ram, butchered it, and field-dressed it for a feast. The visitors bathed, purified themselves, and reclined at the table. Then Toby gave Azariah a nudge.

“Have you told our host you have a plan for his daughter?” he whispered.

Raguel overheard the young man and gave an instant reply. “Eat, drink, relax, Toby—that’s my advice. The evening yawns before us. As for marrying my daughter, my dear boy, there’s no one else I’d rather give her to. of course, I could give her to a stranger, someone I don’t know from a place I’ve never heard of, but that wouldn’t be right. You’re a relative and fit all the qualifications. That’s how I see it.

 “But, my boy, we’ve had a bit of history with her. There have been seven bridegrooms before you, all relatives of mine. Each, as he was approaching the wedding bed, dropped dead. But that was then, and this is now. Eat and drink, my boys. The Lord will take care of you both.”

“From this moment on,” replied Toby recklessly when he could get a word in, “I’m not going to eat or drink a thing until you make it official!” “Now’s as good a time as any, I guess” replied Raguel. “According to Moses, in a judgment handed down from heaven, she’s mine to give and yours to receive. From today on and forever, she’s your wife and you’re her husband. And the Lord of Heaven knows what’s best for you both this night.

You’ll make love. He’ll make mercy and peace.”

Raguel summoned Sarah. She came into the room. He took her by the hand and gave her to Toby.

“According to the rule written by Moses, take her as your wife. Bring her safe and sound to your father. May the God of Heaven give you a comfortable, uneventful journey!”

Raguel called his wife, Edna, to bring some paper. He made out the marriage contract, in which he covered the details according to the Mosaic Law, and signed it.

From that moment on they all resumed eating and drinking with great joy.

Raguel told his wife, “Turn the extra bedroom into a bridal chamber again and lead our lovely Sarah to it.”

As the father instructed, so the mother did. Then, the final touch: Edna brought her daughter to the room. Tears swept the mother’s face like a sudden squall; she dried her eyes and had some words for her daughter, the same as she had done seven times before.

 “For all the sorrow you’ve endured, daughter, may the good Lord reward you with great joy! Be strong.”

Then her mother left Sarah to face her fate for the eighth time.

Back in the bridal bedroom, Raguel and Edna closed the door behind them. Then, mindful that Sarah’s marriage bed had been a death trap seven times before, Toby followed Azariah’s advice again. Breaking from the traditional wedding sequence, he got up from the bed.

“Get up, sister dearest. Let’s use prayer to defeat the demon that has plagued you. Let’s pray, beseech, and besiege our Lord to grant us tolerance and deliverance.”

She did so, and he began to pray.

“Blessed are you, God of our fathers! Blessed be your name forever and ever! May the heavens and all your creatures bless you from age to age!  You made Adam and gave him Eve. From both came the human race. You said, did you not, that it was not good for man to be alone? That he needed a helper, a look-alike? And so you provided. Now I take this woman, my cousin, as my lawful wedded wife, not to quiet my lust but to awaken my love. Keep our best interests at heart. We want to have children and grow old together.”

“Amen,” he said, and “Amen,” she said.

Back to bed they went and continued the betrothal sequence they’d interrupted for the prayer.

 

Gospel: Mark 12:28-34

The Most Important Commandment

One of the religious scholars came up. Hearing the lively exchanges of question and answer and seeing how sharp Jesus was in his answers, he put in his question: “Which is most important of all the commandments?”

Jesus said, “The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.”

The religion scholar said, “A wonderful answer, Teacher! So lucid and accurate—that God is one and there is no other. And loving him with all passion and intelligence and energy, and loving others as well as you love yourself. Why, that’s better than all offerings and sacrifices put together!”

When Jesus realized how insightful he was, he said, “You’re almost there, right on the border of God’s kingdom.”

After that, no one else dared ask a question.

 

Prayer

God our Father,
you want your heart to be
the measure of our love,
but you are always greater than our heart.
In this Eucharist, let your Son give us
a heart of flesh in which burns
a fire of love that cannot be extinguished,
and that prompts us to follow him all the way
to you and to all you have entrusted to us.
We ask you this through Christ, our Lord.

 

Reflection:

People come across every day

Among Pharisees themselves, debate continued constantly on the relative importance of different commandments. The rabbis had identified 613 laws in the Scriptures. (This might sound a lot, but Imagine what is the toral number of laws in the Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church? The Canon Law got a revised version just three days ago! There are 1752 of them!
It was a much debated question among rabbis: “Which is the greatest commandment? In the past two days, we read from Mark about the attempt of the Pharisees and the Sadducees to discredit and trap Jesus through their questions. But today, the question seems to be a genuine one. Jesus responds to the question with due seriousness.

Love God and love your neighbour – for Jesus, these two commandments together constituted a single one. It was precisely the practical love of one’s neighbour. Jesus’ answer was neither new nor surprising.

“You love your neighbour as yourself.” We all agree on the commandment to love God, because God can be loved, even if it is sometimes difficult. But when it comes to the neighbour, it is not very easy. Imagine loving someone whom I come across every day, I have him at work or study, I see him every day on the corner of our street, he could be someone who asks for alms on our streets …

You don’t have to ask “who is my neighbour”, because we know it very well. Really? Perhaps the truth is on the opposite: We know a little or practically nothing about who is my neighbour. Today Jesus precisely asks for knowing our neighbour.

Give signs that expresses that the other person is important. Because he/she is also a son/daughter of God, like me, and therefore that person is my sister. With the brothers we argue, we laugh, we cry. Not with all the “neighbors.” I am going to reach that degree of confidence, where I am genuinely in love with my brother, sister, neighbour. That no one can accuse us of not having taken the first step.

 

Video available on Youtube:  People come across every day