The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary nudge us to choose love of God and neighbour in preference to disputes and disagreement with the people we encounter on our journey.
The reading from the Second Letter of Timothy introduces a worker approved by God and issues a warning against useless disputes.
* [2:8–13] The section begins with a sloganlike summary of Paul’s gospel about Christ (2 Tm 2:8) and concludes with what may be part of an early Christian hymn (2 Tm 2:11b–12a; most exegetes include the rest of 2 Tm 2:12 and all of 2 Tm 2:13 as part of the quotation). The poetic lines suggest that through baptism Christians die spiritually with Christ and hope to live with him and reign with him forever, but the Christian life includes endurance, witness, and even suffering, as the final judgment will show and as Paul’s own case makes clear; while he is imprisoned for preaching the gospel (2 Tm 2:9), his sufferings are helpful to the elect for obtaining the salvation and glory available in Christ (2 Tm 2:10), who will be true to those who are faithful and will disown those who deny him (2 Tm 2:12–13).
* [2:14–19] For those who dispute about mere words (cf. 2 Tm 2:23–24) and indulge in irreligious talk to the detriment of their listeners (2 Tm 2:16–19), see notes on 1 Tm 1:3–7; 6:20–21. Hymenaeus and Philetus (2 Tm 2:17), while accepting the Christian’s mystical death and resurrection in Christ through baptism, claimed that baptized Christians are already risen with Christ in this life and thus that there is no future bodily resurrection or eternal glory to come. The first quotation in 2 Tm 2:19 is from Nm 16:5; the other quotation is from some unidentified Jewish or Christian writing. (2 Timothy, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 25 is a prayer for Guidance and for Deliverance.
* [Psalm 25] A lament. Each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Such acrostic Psalms are often a series of statements only loosely connected. The psalmist mixes ardent pleas (Ps 25:1–2, 16–22) with expressions of confidence in God who forgives and guides. (Psalms, PSALM 25 | USCCB, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus recalls the First Commandment.
* [12:13–34] In the ensuing conflicts (cf. also Mk 2:1–3:6) Jesus vanquishes his adversaries by his responses to their questions and reduces them to silence (Mk 12:34).
* [12:28–34] See note on Mt 22:34–40. (Mark, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB, n.d.)
Susan Naatz shares how through her husband’s chemo, surgery, more chemo and several weeks of radiation, they were anchored with love and held in this bewildering sometimes fierce fight by family, friends, Jesuits, Creighton Prep colleagues, and countless people who have Prep connections.
Perhaps Peter Schineller S.J. says it the best: There is an inseparability between love of God and love of neighbor. It is one movement, the movement enabled by grace (the grace of God in Christ Jesus) to which we give witness. Without Love of Neighbor by Peter Schineller S.J., America Magazine, February 18, 2019 (Naatz, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes “Love God with one's whole self,” by Gregory of Nyssa, 330-395 AD.
"Human life consists in a threefold unity. We are taught similarly by the apostle in what he says to the Ephesians, praying for them that the complete grace of their 'body and soul and spirit' may be preserved at the coming of the Lord. We use the word 'body,' for the nutritive part, the word for the vital, 'soul,' and the word 'spirit' for the intellective dimension. In just this way the Lord instructs the writer of the Gospel that he should set before every commandment that love to God which is exercised with all the heart and soul and mind (Mark 12:30; Matthew 22:37; Luke 10:27). This single phrase embraces the human whole: the corporeal heart, the mind as the higher intellectual and mental nature, and the soul as their mediator." (excerpt from ON THE MAKING OF MAN 8.5.10) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 12:28-34 comments that we might find that perhaps we aren’t so eager to serve as we once were. Or maybe we find excuses not to pray. We might discover times when we were thinking of our own needs before the needs of others. Or maybe we have become too easily annoyed with other people or more critical of them.
But don’t despair if you discover that your love has grown lukewarm. The Holy Spirit is only too willing to renew your heart if you ask him. God is love, and you can trust him to fill you with that love—a pure, unselfish love that longs to give itself away—even if you have to keep asking for it every day! That’s how the kingdom of God breaks forth. May it begin with each of us!
“Come, Holy Spirit, and fill me once more with love for you and my neighbor.” (Meditation on Mark 12:28-34, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments that 2 Timothy, written as if it were Paul in prison, warns against disputing words about docetism and gnosticism and emphasizes living a good life as witness to the truth. Friar Jude connects Jesus' reference to the Great Commandment to the Shema and our intellect, life force, possessions, and conscience.
James Finley introduces teacher Carmen Acevedo Butcher who shares how she came to know and be transformed by the Jesus Prayer. Sophie Buschbeck at that time was a widow living alone….
She asked me to read the Bible to her in German. She didn’t know my backstory, so I read the Bible to her.
I was walking all over Heidelberg during that very cold winter. I came over from Georgia in the U.S. with only polyester sweaters which just would not cut it, and Sophie had to give me a wool sweater. I began to pray, “Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” and variations of the Jesus Prayer. I said it over and over and over all day long. At the end of that time, when I went back home, all my problems were still there. I still had my own internal struggles, and I was trying to navigate my ongoing breakdown. [But] the Jesus Prayer—this constant returning to the present awareness of love—had begun to heal me. I will always be grateful for Sophie, for giving me that nudge and for being able to repeat this prayer until I could feel my soul being knit together again. (Finley, n.d.)
We consider the ancient commandment and recipe for full life that resonates with the Shema and urges us to seek the guidance of the Spirit as we serve the needs of the people in our environment.
References
Finley, J. (n.d.). A Prayer of Healing. CAC Daily Meditations. Retrieved June 6, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-prayer-of-healing/
Mark, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 6, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/12?28
Meditation on Mark 12:28-34. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved June 6, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/06/06/990512/
Naatz, S. (n.d.). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved June 6, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/060624.html
Psalms, PSALM 25 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 6, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/25?4
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Love the Lord with All Your Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength. Daily Scripture net. Retrieved June 6, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=jun6
2 Timothy, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 6, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2timothy/2?8
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