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_{31st Sunday in Ordinary Time
November 5, 2006}         

"Love the Lord your God with all your strength." (Mk 12:30)  That puts the focus of love right where it should be!  The reason is that the love for God in our hearts, our minds, and our souls must eventually be translated into action.  And that's where "loving God with all our strength" comes into play. 

There are three levels or degrees of loving God and loving our neighbor.  The three levels are often referred to as:

1.     The "essence" of love

2.     The "logic" of love

3.     The "folly" of love 

Tevye asks his wife, Golde, "Do you love me?"  Golde replies, "I'm your wife!'  Tevye says, "I know that!  But do you love me?"  Golde replies, "For 25 years I've cleaned your house, cooked your meals, and washed your clothes."  Again, Tevye says, "I know that!  But do you love me?"  Again Golde replies, "For 25 years I've worked with you, laughed with you, and cried with you.  If that's not love, what is?"

Golde's point is that for 25 years she has been faithful to Tevye, both in good times and in bad times.  And that's the essence of love:  remaining faithful to the beloved.

That brings us to the second level…the logic of love.  At this level, the lover is not content with just remaining faithful to the other.  The lover wants to do more.  The lover wants to do things that will surprise and delight the beloved.

The third level is called the folly of love.  At this level, the lover does what ordinary people consider to be foolish or crazy.  A beautiful example of this level is the love of Jesus for each one of us.  St. Paul says in his Letter to the Phillippians:  "Although Jesus had the nature of God… he gave up all he had, and took the nature of a servant…and walked the path of obedience all the way to death…his death on the cross." 

To people who do not love with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their mind, and with all their strength, the love of Jesus for us seems like madness.  It is utter folly!

In brief then, let me reiterate the three levels of love.  The first level is the essence of love.  It consists in staying faithful to the other and doing nothing to hurt them.  The second level is the logic of love.  It wants to do more than stay faithful.  It wasn't to surprise and delight the other.  Finally, the third level is the folly of love.  It is this kind of love that Jesus had for us and invites us to strive to have for one another.  Speaking of this level of love, Jesus said:  "The greatest love you can have for your friends is to give your life for them." (Jn 15:13)

Most of us, in our love relationships with God and one another, love at the first level most of the time.  We remain faithful to the beloved and do nothing to hurt them.  So, too, most of us experience moments in our love relationship when our love rises to the second level.  We go out of our way to do things that will surprise and delight the other.

And, finally, many of us have enjoyed grace-filled occasions when our love reaches the third level.  We have loved with all our mind, with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength.

Todays Gospel invites us to strive more and more, with the help of God’s grace, to reach this level of love!  It is this kind of love that is capable of transforming not only those we love, but also ourselves, and, eventually, the world we live in!

Our prayer today is that we will love God, ourselves, and all those around us with all our mind, with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength.  Wouldn’t that truly make this a wonderful world!