hunbled him in order to prosper him

Hosea 14:2-10; Ps 81 I am the Lord your God: hear my voice; Mark 12:28-34

Listen to the words of Hosea from the first reading: "you have collapsed through your guilt...I will heal their defection, says the Lord, I will love them freely...I have humbled him but I will prosper him...Becasue of me you bear fruit..."

The psalmist, "I would feed them with the finest wheat,and with honey from the rock I would fill them."

The gospel, "The scribe said to him, you are right in saying He is one and there is no other than he. And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all yoru strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when JEsus saw that he answered with understanding, he said to him, "you are not far from the kingdom of God."

When it comes to loving God with all our heart, with all our understanding, with all our strength, there remains that part in us that find that it is too difficult. We would rather offer up burnt sacrifices and be done with it. There is in us a part of us that looks for the minimal that is required; the burnt offering is easy, light the fire watch the smoke rise and pat ourselves on the back as a job well done.

But loving requires a total committment each day anew. Not only are we asked to love God with all our understanding but this necessarily includes loving God even when we don't understand.

This too is demanding.

How often do I hear as a priest so many people withhold their love from God because they don't understand something or worse when they quote "have a problem with what the church teaches."

We must be all in. The more we live the deeper our understanding becomes.

If we wait until we agree or understand completely then we will never experience true love for God or for ourselves.

Think about how little we understand about ourselves or even agree with what we do at times. Yet, we love ourselves even in that which we do not understand.

Could we not Love God who though beyond understanding understands us truly and deeply, better than we know ourselves.

As scriptures tells us, Jesus needed not anyone to tell him of human nature for he understood it himself.