Thirty First Sunday of Ordinary Time
November 5, 2006


What is your favorite topic of conversation?

We all have things we like to talk about. When those pauses in conversation strike at the table or a social gathering, it is easy to jump into one of our favorite topics of conversation to get things going. From the light topics such as: “How about them Cardinals?” to political matters: “Do you think we should stay in Iraq?” to our favorite pastimes – “I came upon this great recipe the other day…”, our favorite topics of conversation give us an easy way to enter into the dialogues that foster closeness and friendships and the connections that exist among us.

The question posed by the scribe in today’s gospel was perhaps THE favorite conversation starter of the entire Jewish nation. It was the source of endless debate and endless conversation among the educated and uneducated alike. What sums up the way we are to love our God? What is the greatest of all the commandments? Note that in asking this, they were not looking for a Cliff’s Notes version of religion. They were not looking for a short cut way to sidestep a lot of the rules. Rather, they were looking for the one insight, the one starting point that pulled it all together, and around which every decision, every thought, every action could flow.

So it is no surprise that Jesus is eventually drawn into that conversation. Nor is his answer particularly surprising or original. He is not the first one to combine the “Shema” – the daily prayer of any devout Jewish person – with the quote from Leviticus. What his life and ministry have consistently proclaimed is that the love of God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and the love of neighbor is inseparable. You cannot have one without the other. You can try to put those together in different ways, but it simply won’t work. Either your love of God spills into love of neighbor and your love of neighbor spills into love of God, or it isn’t what Christ had in mind. It is that simple. In theory…

It is when you go from the theory to the application of that theory that issues seem to get clouded. For instance, I doubt there is a single person in this church who does not wish for cures to be found for many of the diseases that afflict people. Everyone can agree that curing people is a good thing. However, regarding ethical means to accomplish that goal, there is much debate. Though I suspect what you are about to hear falls under the category of preaching to the choir, so that you are clear when you go to the poll on Amendment 2, let me play just a portion of a message from the Archbishop –which lays out the choice that is before us.

(Play Audio CD from the Archbishop…)

“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. And your neighbor, born or unborn, as yourself…”