The words of Paul and Jesus today remind us that living out the Gospel is actually quite simple. Sometimes we get it into our heads that God demands an excessively long list of chores from us, and that once we do them we will be able to get to heaven. There are things that God asks of us, and some of them are quite specific. Our readings today remind us that these things can be boiled down to a few simple ideas, which can animate all our activity and thought.
Jesus’ message is clear: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! 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 second, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:29–31).
Paul’s message is equally simple: “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David: such is my Gospel…If we have died with him we shall also live with him; if we persevere we shall also reign with him. But if we deny him he will deny us. If we are unfaithful he remains faithful” (2 Tim 2:8, 11-13).
We could sum up both by saying: Jesus Christ, a descendant of David, has been raised from the dead. We remain faithful to Him by persevering, dying with Him, and living and reigning with Him. We see that the heart of the Good News is to love God without reservation, to love our neighbor as ourselves, to believe in Jesus Christ as the Messiah who died and rose for us, and to persevere in faith in Him all the way to death. The heart of the Gospel is to love God and our neighbor, and to believe in and follow Jesus Christ.
As we know, these things have attendant consequences, and yet it is just as true that this really is the Christian life, the long and the short of it. It’s helpful for us to keep this in mind as we find different precepts or tasks burdensome or confusing. We have these simple words as a benchmark for our thoughts and actions, and as a guiding light for the direction of our lives.
And what is that guiding light, in short? Again, as Jesus says: love God and love your neighbor. John reminds us that God is love and that when we love, we imitate God. When we believe in and follow Jesus, we imitate Him. For the Christian life, then, the core activity is to become like God in whatever we do, looking to Him as the exemplar and forerunner. It’s that simple.
Las palabras de Pablo y Jesús hoy nos recuerdan que el vivir el Evangelio es, en realidad, bastante sencillo. A veces nos hacemos la idea de que Dios nos exige una lista excesivamente larga de tareas, y que una vez que las cumplamos podremos llegar al cielo. Hay cosas que Dios nos pide, y algunas de ellas son bastante específicas. Nuestras lecturas de hoy nos recuerdan que estas cosas se pueden resumir en unas pocas ideas sencillas, que pueden animar toda nuestra actividad y pensamiento.
El mensaje de Jesús es claro: “Escucha, Israel: El Señor, nuestro Dios, es el único Señor; amarás al Señor, tu Dios, con todo tu corazón, con toda tu alma, con toda tu mente y con todas tus fuerzas. El segundo es éste: Amarás a tu prójimo como a ti mismo” (Marcos 12,29-31).
El mensaje de Pablo es igualmente sencillo: “Recuerda siempre que Jesucristo, descendiente de David, resucitó de entre los muertos, conforme al Evangelio que yo predico.… Si morimos con él, viviremos con él; si nos mantenemos firmes, reinaremos con él; si lo negamos, él también nos negará; si le somos infieles, él permanece fiel” (2 Timoteo 2,8 y 11-13).
Podríamos resumir ambos diciendo: Jesucristo, descendiente de David, ha resucitado de entre los muertos. Permanecemos fieles a Él perseverando, muriendo con Él, y viviendo y reinando con Él. Vemos que el corazón de la Buena Nueva es amar a Dios sin reservas, amar al prójimo como a nosotros mismos, creer en Jesucristo como el Mesías que murió y resucitó por nosotros, y perseverar en la fe en Él hasta la muerte. El corazón del Evangelio es amar a Dios y al prójimo, y creer en Jesucristo y seguirlo.
Como sabemos, estas cosas tienen consecuencias, y sin embargo, es igualmente cierto que esta es realmente la vida cristiana, en esencia. Nos resulta útil tener esto en cuenta cuando encontramos diferentes preceptos o tareas que nos resultan gravosas o confusas. Tenemos estas sencillas palabras como punto de referencia para nuestros pensamientos y acciones, y como luz que guía la dirección de nuestras vidas.
¿Y cuál es esa luz que nos guía, en resumen? De nuevo, como dice Jesús: amar a Dios y amar al prójimo. Juan nos recuerda que Dios es amor y que cuando amamos, imitamos a Dios. Cuando creemos en Jesús y lo seguimos, lo imitamos a Él. Por lo tanto, en la vida cristiana, la actividad fundamental es llegar a ser como Dios en todo lo que hacemos, mirándolo a Él como ejemplo y modelo a seguir. Es así de sencillo.
David Dashiell is a freelance author, editor, and publisher in Hawaii. He has three children, a degree in theology, and enjoys writing poetry and discussing philosophy, culture, music, theology, and comedy. You can find his poetry blog, Poems at Twilight, on Substack, his publishing company, Ether Press, here, and his personal website here.
Feature Image Credit: Andreas Wahra, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cefal%C3%B9_Pantocrator_retouched.jpg
The views and opinions expressed in the Inspiration Daily blog are solely those of the original authors and contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Diocesan, the Diocesan staff, or other contributors to this blog.
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