Reflection
‘You shall love
the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your
strength.’ Was this simply the setting of an impossible ideal? For it would
seem that much of the history of the People of God is merely a demonstration of
how much they failed to live up to their calling. It is as though the priests
offering sacrifices in the temple were busy trying in vain to keep open the
lines of communication between heaven and earth. Jesus, however, lived out the
Shema to the very point of laying down his life and in so doing he unblocked
the path between God and humanity. This is how he became our way to the Father
and changed what seemed like an impossible ideal into a wonderful opportunity.
We really can love God because he has loved us first.