THE gospel of today’s Mass talks about the scribe who, filled with good faith, wanted to know which of the commandments of the law was the most important.
Jesus ratified what the Old law had already said: “Hear O Israel, the Lord your God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The scribe agreed wholeheartedly with the teaching of Jesus, and then repeated slowly what Jesus had said. The Lord had an affectionate word for him at the end: “You are not far from the Kingdom of Heaven.”
This commandment, which summarizes “all the Law and the Prophets,” begins with the affirmation of the existence of the only God. We repeat this in the words of the Creed: “I believe in one God.”
It is a truth that can be known by the natural light of reason, and the chosen people knew well that all the pagan gods were false. Yet, they were constantly tempted by idols, and in their long history, they often abandoned the one God in favor of idols.
The prophets had to remind them often of the falseness of these deities, but they were attracted to them because of contract with peoples who were richer or more materially advanced than they were.
The chosen people often failed to appreciate the incomparable richness of their revelation, the treasure of their faith. They would abandon the source of living waters in order to drink from the cracked and rotten cisterns of the pagans.
The ancient pagans, civilized men of their era, invented idols, which they adored. Many civilized men of our days, new pagans, raise up idols that are better constructed and more refined.
Nowadays, there seems to be a real idolatry for everything that can be disguised as “progress,” or which can give more material well-being, more pleasure, more comfort, making men completely forget the spiritual life and their eternal salvation.
The words of Saint Paul to the Philippians could very well apply to our times: “Their God is their belly, and they glory in their shame, because they place their hearts on earthly things.”
This is the modern idolatry, which today tempts many Christians, making them forget the great treasure of their faith, the richness of the love of God.
The first commandment of the Ten Commandments is broken when we prefer other things over God, although these things may be good in themselves. We tend to love them in a disorderly way. Thus, man perverts the order of creatures, using them for ends, which are opposed to, or distinct from, that for which they were created.
When we break the divine order which the Ten Commandments show us, man no longer finds God in creation. He then fabricates his own gods, and behind all these lie the root of his egoism and pride.
Thus, man gets to foolishly place himself in the place of God, making himself the source of good and evil, falling into the temptation of the devil to our first parents.
“You will become like gods” if you disobey the commandments of God. Hence there is a need to ask ourselves many times if God really has the first place in our life. And we can know this by examining ourselves on the interest that we put in getting to know Him better.
Do we devote some time to our doctrinal-religious formation? Are we detached from the goods which we possess or which we use?
“You shall love the Lord your God…and Him only should you adore.” Do we exert the effort to follow the way that God wants for us, the personal vocation of each one of us, so that we can really adore God and serve Him as he wants?