Pentecost XXIII 23.10.05
Christ Church
Morningside
Love your God
and your
neighbour
“Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with
all your mind…
[and] love your neighbour as yourself.”
Matt 22.37 – 38
She was born into a wealthy family and lived a life of privilege until she was eighteen. The tradition tells us that one day she went to a prayer meeting in her home town to hear speak one of the most famous preachers of the time. She was so moved by what she heard that she decided, quite literally, to give up all her wealth and possessions, and from that moment on she lived a life of extreme poverty and austerity. She founded an order of nuns – whose converts included her mother, two sisters and other wealthy female relatives. By the time of her death there were over 50 convents of nuns who modelled themselves after her pattern of life and service all over Europe.
For the last twenty-seven years of her life she was frequently ill and often bed-ridden. One of her most famous ‘miracles’ took place when her home town was threatened to be sacked by a powerful foreign army. The legend tells of how she was carried up onto the city walls on her bed to say prayers of protection for her people; upon which the invaders were said to have lost heart and fled.
I am talking (if you haven’t already guessed) about St. Claire of Assisi – companion and colleague of St. Francis.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…”
Another Franciscan – this time a priest, and living in the 20th Century – was arrested and interred, like so many others, in Auschwitz death camp in 1941. He was put to work in the labour camp there, doing heavy manual work, which included moving the bodies of dead fellow prisoners.
Now it was the rule that if anyone escaped or tired to escape then men from the same bunker as the escapee were selected to die of starvation – both to set an example and as a deterrent. Near the end of July 1941 there was one such attempt from the bunker in which the Franciscan priest was billeted. When the roll call was made on the 31st July the prisoners knew what to expect. What happened next is the stuff of legend:
“One man from each line was selected, including a sergeant, Francis Gajowniczek. When like the others he shouted out in despair, the priest stepped forward, saying, ‘I am a Catholic priest. I wish to die for that man. I am old; he has a wife and children.’ The officer, keen to liquidate the old and weak, changed the numbers.
St. Maximilian Kolbe went to the death chamber of Cell 18, preparing the others to die with dignity by prayers, psalms and the example of Christ’s passion. Two weeks later only four were left alive: Maximilian alone was fully conscious. He was injected with phenol and died on 14th August, aged 47.” (The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, p. 253)
“…[and] love your neighbour as yourself.”
These are two extreme example, of course; examples of love, love for God and love for others. But most of us are not like this, so let me share two other examples – perhaps a bit more familiar.
This lady lives a quiet life by herself. She goes to church as often as she can. She works, which takes up a great deal of her week, but she still makes time to volunteer with a local charity, as well as at church. She says her prayers, tries to read her bible and when asked about her faith talks about it in the unassuming, quiet and modest way that bespeaks of her way of life.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…”
There is a man who has a partner, children and a career. He is busy. He does his work as conscientiously as he can. He loves his family and tries to do his best for them. He is faithful in his life of prayer and worship and despite being busy he gives of his time to helping others, both at church and in other ways.
Both of these people are real, and live here in this neighbourhood. What they do and how they live is authentic, as far as I know, only their identities have I kept private.
“Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…
[and] love your neighbour as yourself.”
There are many ways to live this way – the way of love. What I personally have found helpful is:
Love the Lord your God, through:
· , Prayer
· , Worship
· , Reading the Scriptures and other spiritual literature
· , Nature
· , Doing one’s best in all situations
· , Trying to be thankful for all of the small things
Love your neighbour by:
· Seeing God – the Divine life – in everyone
· Loving service
· Forgiving
· Trying to see oneself through the eyes of someone else
And this is so important because…? Because this is what it is all about. This is the heart, the essence the very core of our Faith, our Hope our way of Life in Christ. To love God – the Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer and love other people even as we love our own selves.
And this is so important because…? This is how God lives. And in trying to live as God does to share in His Divine life and joy – Heaven now and in all Eternity. And this is how we gain our freedom; freedom from fear, oppression, pointlessness, hopelessness and even death.
“Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…
[and] love your neighbour as yourself.”
-
23rd October 2005