Sunday Reflection: Two great commandments

Today's reflection is brought to you by 

Matthew 22:37-39. 

A statue from Gubbio
(wish I knew the artist's name)

Jesus told him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: "You shall love your neighbour as yourself." 

I offered the following reflection to the people of the Community of Emmanuel in Edmonton's inner-city this morning. They listened very attentively -- who can resist stories about saints, whether they be the capital or small S variety?

Today in our reading, Jesus gives us what he knows are the two most important commandments, and

these commandments leave us with two questions: 

First of all, how do we love God with all our heart, soul and mind? What does that actually look like?

And secondly, how do we love our neighbours as ourselves? What does that actually look like? 

When I was thinking about this reading and what I might say about it, I also realized that this coming week, Tuesday, an interesting annual celebration will take place. Have you thought about it at all? Halloween is coming. Besides being a day of weird, deathly celebration, costumes, candy, and tricks or treats, it’s really the evening before the great spiritual celebrations of All Saints and All Souls’ days. And if we want to love God, who better to show us how than the holy saints and souls from ancient times and our own personal histories? They give us many examples of how to love Creator and do as Creator asks. 

So what are saints? In our time, it's easy to think of people like Mother Teresa when we think of holy people. She was amazing in her life and commitment to caring for people in Calcutta, India, and she started a group of missionary people who live and work all over the world now, helping wherever they can. But you and I aren’t likely to be Missionaries of Charity or Mother Teresa kind of people… or are we? 

I've always liked the story about the little kid who visits a big fancy church with his grandma during summer holidays. He's never been in a church like it, and he’s asking her lots of questions. “Who are all these people in the colourful windows?” he asks. And she replies, “They’re saints.” And she tells him a few stories about the saints in the windows close to where they are sitting.

Sometime later, back at school, the word "saint" is on his spelling test, and his teacher asks the question, “What is a saint?” and the little boy says, “I know, I know! A saint is a person the light shines through!” 

And that’s a pretty cool definition of what it means to be a saint, if you ask me, because we can all be people that Creator’s light shines through. By being kind to someone, sharing what we have, giving help wherever we can, we are letting God’s light shine through us. When I meet people at the door on Sunday mornings, sometimes I’m blinded by the light of a smile, or the kindness that someone shows to someone else. Our coffee ladies let the light shine through, don’t they? And our volunteers who bring the lunches? They are being signs of God’s love. God’s love and light shine through the way they care for all of us here at the Community of Emmanuel! They are saints, aren't they? 

We’re all meant to be saints – we already are what I call small s saints, or good people trying to be even better, though there aren’t stained glass windows with our pictures in them! And we all know saints from our own lives, people who let Creator's light shine through them in their love for us. I’d like to give you a quiet moment to think about someone in your life, past or present, who is or was a sign of God’s love for you. 

(Brief pause.)

Did you think of someone? Maybe more than one person? I thought of my Grandma Dorothea, my dad's mom. She wasn’t perfect, she had a temper, but she was also a lot of fun. I remember her turning cartwheels on the front lawn when I was a kid. I couldn't turn a cartwheel to save my life, but Grandma could. She taught me to cook some foods traditional to my family, clobbered me in cribbage and rummy, made the best gingersnaps, and could yodel like you’ve never heard at our family sing-alongs.

Eventually Grandma became disabled because of arthritis, and I remember visiting her in the senior's home in Saskatoon. I would peek in her door to find her in her wheelchair, holding her almost worn-out prayer book in her hands, praying for her family. And when I would say, "Hi, Grandma!" her smile was the kind of smile God would have. Absolute delight and unconditional love! I hope we all know someone who is radiant with that kind of love for us. 

Those kind of people are small s saints, as are we, on our journey to Creator. And then there are the capital S saints – the people you see in the stained-glass windows. Maybe you’ve heard of my favourite, Francis of Assisi. He was a rich young man who was supposed to inherit his father’s textile business, but he noticed that, compared to the people who worked in his father’s factories, he was living a life of luxury, and that wasn't fair! He decided to take sides with the folks who had less, just like Jesus asks us all to do, and he walked away from all that luxury to live simply, like Jesus did. 

Many of the priests and bishops in the time of Francis were more interested in power and money than in caring for their people, so Francis started a community of Little Brothers to care for those who were down on their luck, sick, disabled, or elderly. Of course, the Francis and his brothers put the rich priests and bishops to shame, and created a bit of an uproar in the Church. Jesus would have been proud!

Francis also loved nature, and is the saint of ecology, of living in harmony with creation. There are many stories of him preaching to the animals. Not far from where I live, there’s a statue of him talking to the Wolf of Gubbio. The wolf was causing many problems for the people of the town of Gubbio, killing their livestock, and eventually, killing even the people who tried to kill it. The people of Gubbio were terrified. 

Francis was living in Gubbio at the time, and decided to do something about it. He went out of the town's fortified walls to meet the wolf empty-handed, saying, "Brother Wolf, I come in peace." The wolf charged at Francis, but soon realized that Francis was different -- he had no sticks or clubs or knives to threaten the wolf. So the wolf circled Francis, who said, "Brother Wolf, you are hungry and afraid, and you are doing what wolves do to feed and protect yourself." Then he turned to the people and said, "And you are worried and afraid, and you are doing what people do to protect themselves and their livestock." 

Francis soon set up a pact between the wolf and the people – that the wolf would be gentle and kind if the people would take turns feeding it -- and the wolf lived in peace with people for the rest of its life.

It's a beautiful story, an example for us to follow. We all have wolves in our lives in the form of difficult people or situations. The story of Saint Francis and the wolf of Gubbio is a lesson about how to relate to those who don’t view life the way we do -- through understanding and compromise. Francis' life is full of stories that help us to see how we can be better people. Saints like Francis are people who let the light shine through themselves, and help others let their light shine, too. 

So that was a long detour when it comes to Jesus’ great commandments, but it’s leading me back to the first question I asked -- how do we love God with all our heart, soul and mind? What does that look like? Well, we have the example of compassionate and loving people around us – in our own lives, and in the past. Small s and capital S saints. We see the light shine through them, and their example encourages us to let God’s light shine through us too. When I am able to let Creator’s light shine through me, I am loving God with all my heart, soul and mind. 

But letting God’s light shine through us isn’t always easy, as we see in the second question -- How do we love our neighbours as ourselves? What does that actually look like? 

I’m going to break this question in half and focus on the second half first. Before we love our neighbours, how do we love ourselves? Do we even recognize ourselves as loveable? Or do we get hung up on our unlovable qualities? 

We need to remember that Creator is not hung up on the things we think are wrong about ourselves, the negative things people have said to us that stick with us and make us feel bad about ourselves. It's too easy to get down on ourselves when people aren't kind to us, or step on our natural way of being. 

I'm one of those people who can be overly enthusiastic, jumping into conversations, interrupting other people's chains of thought... and when people react to that, sometimes I feel like I should just shut up and never say anything again. But playing small is not serving Creator, who needs someone with enthusiasm to jump in some of the time. I just need to learn to curb my enthusiasm to let other people shine too. 

It's easy to get down on ourselves, but do we realize that it's important to believe that Creator made us the way we are on purpose -- and loves us every day? Because Creator does love us, no matter what. Think about this – Creator loves you so much that there’s this incredible planet for you to live on, given to you for free. Creator made entire diamond galaxies out in space to sparkle and shine just for you to see. Creator woos you with gorgeous sunrises and sunsets and gives you moments of beauty, goodness, and truth if you look for them. Creator made human love to show you the overarching love behind everything that exists, from the tiniest grain of sand to the highest mountain, from the tiniest little bug to the most enormous blue whale, from the depths of the sea to the depths of your heart. And nothing you can do can stop that love. It just is. For you! 

So if Creator loves you that much, can you love yourself that much too? Because that’s the kind of love Jesus is saying that we also need to extend to our neighbours. Even when our neighbours are unlovable. Sometimes they can be like the Wolf of Gubbio, challenging us in ways we'd rather not be challenged. It’s not easy to love ourselves or our neighbours sometimes, but I’d like to guide you through a little prayer experience that might help with that. 

Close your eyes or focus them softly on something near you. Settle into your breathing for a moment and take these words into your heart. 

 Creator loves me, just as I am. 

 Creator loves me, just as I am. 

 Creator loves me, just as I am. 

Now I invite you to think of someone you love as I go through this prayer. 

 I ask Creator’s blessings on this person who I love. 

 I ask Creator to watch over this person and keep them safe and well. 

 I ask Creator to let the sun shine warmly on this person. 

 I ask Creator to be gracious and kind to this person. 

 I ask Creator to give this person peace and joy. 

Now think of someone in your life who is hard to love. 

 I ask Creator’s blessings on this person who is hard for me to love. 

 I ask Creator to watch over this person and keep them safe and well. 

 I ask Creator to let the sun shine warmly on this person. 

 I ask Creator to be gracious and kind to this person. 

 I ask Creator to give this person peace and joy. 

Now let's pray this prayer for ourselves. 

 I ask Creator’s blessings on me. 

 I ask Creator to watch over me and keep me safe and well. 

 I ask Creator to let the sun shine warmly on me. 

 I ask Creator to be gracious and kind to me. 

 I ask Creator to give me peace and joy. 

Creator, help us to love you with all our hearts, minds and souls, to love our neighbours, and to love ourselves. 

+Amen.

St. Francis and the Wolf

north of Newman Theological College