Daily Gospel Reflection
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August 21, 2020
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
The Pharisees seem to be asking exactly what we are asking ourselves in these unsettling and trying times: “what is most important?”
They ask Jesus, “which commandment in the law is the greatest?” probably because they assume that the hundreds of commandments in the law cannot be reduced to a single unifying and guiding principle. I can certainly relate to this right now. This year has presented a cavalcade of issues that have pulled me in many directions. At various times, I have asked myself: what petitions should I sign, what issues should I call my representatives about, and to which organizations should I lend my support and donate money? The global coronavirus pandemic has complicated matters even further as “laws” regarding public health have been changing from week to week and inconsistent from state to state. My intention is not to test Jesus, as the Pharisees clearly intend to do in this reading, but I find myself praying to God for guidance and clarity as I am pulled in many directions at once.
Jesus has an answer for the Pharisees that is as applicable now as it was when he first spoke it. Jesus often speaks in parables that are open to the interpretation of the hearer but that is not the case today. Jesus answers directly: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” As I hear Jesus speaking to me through these words, I hear him saying, “I know things are difficult and uncertain right now, but if you put God first and really try to love others, everything else will flow from that.” This guidance does not tell me what to do, specifically, in each situation that I face in this unprecedented time, but the principle it provides is the essence of my faith. I especially think we could all use a little more “love of neighbor” right now. We are not struggling alone; we are in this together.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, you sent your Son into the world, not to upend the law, but to fulfill it. We rejoice in the knowledge that above all else you have commanded us to love. Thank you, Lord, for the kindness and wisdom of this law. May we spend our lives focused on these two great commandments. Come Holy Spirit, help us to love.
Saint of the Day
Any Catholic who received first communion in second grade can thank Pope St. Pius X, who extended the practice to children, saying that “Holy Communion is the shortest and safest way to heaven.”
Joseph Sarto was born in 1835, one of eight children in a poor family; his father was a shoe cobbler. He was an excellent student, and felt an early call to the priesthood. After his ordinations, he was continually given new responsibilities because of the potential his superiors saw in him. In 1884 Joseph was named bishop of a region in Italy, and he became a cardinal ten years after that. He was elected pope in 1903 and took the name Pius X.
He was a rare pope in that he had extensive experience as a pastor of a parish before his election to the papacy in 1903. He had great concern for the everyday lives of the faithful and had a desire to “renew all things in Christ.” He was known for his simple and clear, direct homilies, and he encouraged all the faithful to read the Bible, which re-energized biblical studies.
Among his lasting contributions to the lives of Catholics: he encouraged frequent reception of Communion; began the renewal of the liturgy, which would flower in the Second Vatican Council; and gathered canon law into one code for the first time. His decree on the age for first Communion allowed children aged 7 and older to receive the Eucharist; the practice had been reserved for children at least 12 to 14 years old.
He was known as a holy man and encouraged personal piety through prayerful devotion and living with humility and simplicity. He had a soft spot in his heart for children—even as pope, he would carry candy in his pockets and walk the streets of Rome to encounter and teach children there.
His will contained one sentence: “I was born poor, I have lived poor, I wish to die poor.” The reliquary chapel in the Basilica contains nearly a dozen of his relics, and the museum in the Basilica holds one of his white, papal zucchettos (the small cap worn by bishops).
Pope St. Pius X, you renewed the Church and profoundly changed Catholic life--pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of Pope St. Pius X is in the public domain. Last accessed March 27, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.