Living Love: Preparing for Judgment and Communion
Summary
As we gather on this 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, we find ourselves reflecting on themes of judgment, the end of life, and the ultimate examination of our lives before God. This time of year, as we approach the end of the liturgical calendar, invites us to ponder our relationship with God and our use of the gift of free will. We are reminded of the importance of the commandments, particularly the call to love God with all our heart, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. This foundational teaching, rooted in the Old Testament and emphasized by Jesus, challenges us to examine how we prioritize God in our lives and how we express love in our daily actions.
The scribe's encounter with Jesus highlights the significance of understanding and living out these commandments. It is a call to introspection, urging us to conduct a thorough examination of conscience, not just in preparation for confession, but as a daily practice. This examination helps us align our actions with God's will, ensuring that our choices reflect love and goodness.
In today's world, we are bombarded with information and challenges that can distract us from our true purpose. The immediacy and volume of issues we face can be overwhelming, leading us to take on burdens that are not ours to bear. It is crucial to focus on what God is asking of us today, in our immediate surroundings, and to engage with the people and situations we can truly impact.
As we participate in the Mass, we are reminded of the sacrificial offering of Christ, which invites us to offer our own lives—our joys, struggles, and desires—to God. This act of communion strengthens our relationship with God and empowers us to live out our faith in tangible ways. By focusing on what we can control and who we can love, we build up the kingdom of God and prepare ourselves for the ultimate judgment, where our lives will be laid bare before the Lord.
Key Takeaways:
- The call to love God and neighbor is central to our faith, requiring us to prioritize these relationships in our daily lives. This love is not just an emotion but a conscious choice to align our actions with God's will, reflecting His love in the world. [03:58]
- Conducting a regular examination of conscience helps us stay aligned with God's desires for us. It is a practice that invites us to reflect on our actions, intentions, and the impact we have on others, ensuring that we live a life of love and integrity. [06:29]
- In a world filled with distractions, it is essential to focus on what God is asking of us today. By concentrating on our immediate surroundings and the people we can impact, we fulfill our calling and prepare for the ultimate judgment. [09:07]
- The Eucharist is a powerful reminder of Christ's sacrificial love, inviting us to offer our own lives to God. This act of communion strengthens our relationship with God and empowers us to live out our faith in tangible ways. [09:07]
- We are called to discern what is within our control and to focus on loving those around us. By doing so, we build up the kingdom of God and prepare ourselves for the ultimate examination of our lives before the Lord. [09:07]
Youtube Chapters:
- [00:00] - Welcome
- [00:38] - Reflecting on End Times
- [03:58] - The Greatest Commandments
- [06:29] - Examination of Conscience
- [09:07] - The Power of the Eucharist
- [12:00] - Navigating Modern Distractions
- [15:00] - Focusing on Immediate Impact
- [18:00] - Living a Life of Love
- [21:00] - Building the Kingdom of God
- [24:00] - Preparing for Judgment
- [27:00] - Offering Our Lives to God
- [30:00] - Conclusion and Prayer
Study Guide
### Bible Study Discussion Guide
#### Bible Reading
1. Deuteronomy 6:4-5 - "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."
2. Mark 12:28-31 - "One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, 'Of all the commandments, which is the most important?' 'The most important one,' answered Jesus, 'is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.'"
#### Observation Questions
1. What does the scribe ask Jesus, and how does Jesus respond? [03:58]
2. How does the sermon describe the role of the scribe in the synagogue? [03:58]
3. What are some of the distractions mentioned in the sermon that can take us away from focusing on God’s will? [06:29]
4. How does the sermon explain the significance of the Eucharist in our relationship with God? [09:07]
#### Interpretation Questions
1. Why does Jesus emphasize the commandments to love God and love your neighbor as the greatest? How does this relate to the concept of free will discussed in the sermon? [03:58]
2. How does conducting a regular examination of conscience help believers align their actions with God's will, according to the sermon? [06:29]
3. In what ways does the sermon suggest that modern distractions can impact our spiritual lives and our ability to focus on what God is asking of us today? [06:29]
4. How does the act of participating in the Eucharist empower believers to live out their faith in tangible ways, as discussed in the sermon? [09:07]
#### Application Questions
1. Reflect on your daily life: How do you prioritize your relationship with God and your neighbor? Are there specific actions you can take to better align with the greatest commandments? [03:58]
2. Consider your current routine: How often do you conduct an examination of conscience? What steps can you take to make this a more regular practice? [06:29]
3. Identify a distraction in your life that prevents you from focusing on God’s will. What practical steps can you take this week to minimize its impact? [06:29]
4. Think about your participation in the Eucharist: How can you more fully offer your life—your joys, struggles, and desires—to God during Mass? [09:07]
5. Who in your immediate surroundings can you impact positively this week? What specific actions can you take to show love and build up the kingdom of God? [06:29]
6. Reflect on a recent decision you made: How did you discern what was within your control and what was not? How can this discernment process be improved in future decisions? [06:29]
7. How can you use the concept of sacrificial love, as demonstrated in the Eucharist, to strengthen your relationships with those around you? [09:07]
Devotional
I'm ready to provide the 5-day devotional based on the steps outlined. Here it is:
Day 1: Prioritizing Love in Action
The call to love God and neighbor is central to our faith, requiring us to prioritize these relationships in our daily lives. This love is not just an emotion but a conscious choice to align our actions with God's will, reflecting His love in the world. The commandments to love God with all our heart, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves, are foundational teachings that challenge us to examine how we prioritize God in our lives and how we express love in our daily actions. This is not merely about feeling love but about making deliberate choices that reflect God's love in the world. [03:58]
Deuteronomy 6:5-6 (ESV): "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart."
Reflection: Think of a specific way you can show love to a neighbor today. How can you make this a regular practice in your life?
Day 2: Aligning with God's Will
Conducting a regular examination of conscience helps us stay aligned with God's desires for us. It is a practice that invites us to reflect on our actions, intentions, and the impact we have on others, ensuring that we live a life of love and integrity. This introspection is not just for moments of confession but should be a daily practice that helps us align our actions with God's will. By doing so, we ensure that our choices reflect love and goodness, and we remain true to the path God has set for us. [06:29]
Psalm 139:23-24 (ESV): "Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!"
Reflection: At the end of today, take a moment to reflect on your actions. Did they align with God's will? What can you do differently tomorrow?
Day 3: Focusing on God's Present Call
In a world filled with distractions, it is essential to focus on what God is asking of us today. By concentrating on our immediate surroundings and the people we can impact, we fulfill our calling and prepare for the ultimate judgment. The immediacy and volume of issues we face can be overwhelming, leading us to take on burdens that are not ours to bear. It is crucial to focus on what God is asking of us today, in our immediate surroundings, and to engage with the people and situations we can truly impact. [09:07]
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 (ESV): "And to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one."
Reflection: Identify one distraction that often pulls you away from God's call. How can you minimize its impact on your life today?
Day 4: Embracing the Eucharist's Power
The Eucharist is a powerful reminder of Christ's sacrificial love, inviting us to offer our own lives to God. This act of communion strengthens our relationship with God and empowers us to live out our faith in tangible ways. As we participate in the Mass, we are reminded of the sacrificial offering of Christ, which invites us to offer our own lives—our joys, struggles, and desires—to God. This act of communion is not just a ritual but a profound encounter with God's love that empowers us to live out our faith in tangible ways. [09:07]
1 Corinthians 10:16-17 (ESV): "The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread."
Reflection: As you prepare for your next communion, consider what part of your life you need to offer to God. How can this offering transform your daily actions?
Day 5: Building God's Kingdom Through Love
We are called to discern what is within our control and to focus on loving those around us. By doing so, we build up the kingdom of God and prepare ourselves for the ultimate examination of our lives before the Lord. In today's world, we are bombarded with information and challenges that can distract us from our true purpose. It is crucial to focus on what God is asking of us today, in our immediate surroundings, and to engage with the people and situations we can truly impact. [09:07]
Colossians 3:12-14 (ESV): "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony."
Reflection: Who in your life needs to experience God's love through you today? What specific action can you take to show them this love?
Quotes
1. "Thanks for coming to pray this morning as we celebrate this 31st Sunday in ordinary time. Again, we're getting to the end of the liturgical year for us. Again, New Year starts with Advent as we get to the end of November and beginning of December. And we always have at this time of the year reflections on kind of end time things, end of life things, judgment things. We're going to have these themes throughout November. And of course, the month started November 1st, the feast, the solemnity of all saints. And so we set aside time to celebrate all of the saints in the history of the world. So it's really everybody in heaven. You know, we consider everyone in heaven to be a saint. One is in perfect union with God, in God's house, in God's kingdom." ([00:00:21] (45 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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2. "And, you know, it's a time to set aside to reflect on all of our loved ones who have passed before us and entrusting them to God's merciful love, to his forgiveness, to God's grace, and asking that we have a role within it. And it begs us to kind of really pause and reflect a little bit on, you know, judgment and standing before the Son of Man, as the Scripture says we will all do at the end of our lives. And, you know, one of the great gifts that, you know, we have in our createdness as human beings is that we have the gift of free will. We're all free. And we're free to choose to be here, choose not to be here. We're free to choose what we do with our day. We have freedom. And before the Lord, you know, there's that freedom." ([00:01:16] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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3. "And he quotes to him, you know, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your strength, with all your soul. And Jesus adds, and love your neighbor as yourself. And this man, you know, and when he responds to this scribe who's quoting Moses, quoting Deuteronomy. And even today, it's such an important passage of scripture for the Jewish people that, you know, you'll see some of the Orthodox Jews, if you ever see them praying, the ones that have the long hair, they'll put this words in a little box and tie it to their forehead or tie it to their wrist or tie it to their heart so that these words of scriptures are bound to them. They can keep them close to them." ([00:03:58] (36 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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4. "It's a call for all of us to really sift through how are we putting God first, and what does it really mean to love, to love God as we're called to. And I think in the month of November, what we can go through and really process through is a real examination. You know, obviously every time I go to confession, you know, we do an examination of conscience. Where am I at? What am I saying? What am I doing? What's driving me? And is it what God wants for me? Was it loving and good to the world around me? We do examination to kind of sift through, you know, what we've been, what we're doing, what we're thinking." ([00:04:34] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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5. "Especially today, I mean, we have so many blessings in our own particular day when we live. There's so many things that are accessible to us, so much knowledge that is accessible to us. The use of technology is phenomenal. What our medicine can do in this country, I mean, it's such a great gift. Whether us personally or we know people have been so benefited from, you know, the medical field in our own time, it's come from a development of knowledge and there's so many things we know. On the flip side of that, the negative side about that. You know, I think we live in a day and age when things are presented in front of us that, you know, people before us didn't have to deal with." ([00:05:59] (39 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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6. "And I think it can lead us down really challenging paths, I think, when we think through daily life and we think through what's God asking of me today and what I'm called to be today. And we put too much in front of us, and we take on things that are not our own. You know, it can really distract us from paying attention to what God really wants us to pay attention to and spousal relationships, the household, the things and the people that we engage in. are involved in on a daily basis and you know certainly this particular time political season election coming up on on tuesday obviously and there's so many themes and so many things being discussed and so many things you know going on there to reflect on and think of that are beyond sometimes our individual vote." ([00:07:21] (45 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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7. "just turning on the TV or looking at different things in society, there's so many things that are pushed in front of us that can take us away from being grounded in the here and the now, in this particular moment, which is, in a sense, we have to do that in order to prepare for the here and now of the judgment when we'll get there, to be ready for, yes, I was paying attention to what was in front of me, who was in front of me. I was making decisions based on what information I had, what I was able to affect. My yes and my no mattered for the world in which I was particularly engaged and not about things that were beyond me." ([00:08:27] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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8. "today, you know, and before we meet God face to face when free will ends, you know, we have the ability right now to give our time, our energy to our loved ones who have passed on, to pray for them, to ask for God's healing and strength, to ask to be admitted into the kingdom, to offer sacrifices of fasting, of time, of prayer for our loved ones. We have the ability to sit here this day and make the decision on how I'm going to live this day, how I'm going to function this day, what I'm going to do with my time and my energy, and is it really loving in order towards the good that leads to a successful judgment, that the conversation with Jesus goes well, you know, something that we want and are proud to communicate to him." ([00:10:26] (38 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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9. "I think always to get there and to look, you know, what is it the Lord asking of me? Sometimes we've got to shut out the things that are beyond us and that are things that we cannot affect, that is not our particular voice or our particular vote or our particular yes or our particular ability, you know, to engage and refocus on. What is it? What are you asking of me, Lord? Who can I affect this day? What are you asking of me to give of the best of myself, that I'm loving the Lord with all my heart, my strength, my soul, and I'm loving my neighbor as best I can, and I'm giving I can, what I can, to who I can, right in front of me this particular day." ([00:11:44] (36 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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10. "You know, always kind of give us that guidance to see what it is that he's inviting us to pay attention to, who it is that he's inviting us to pay attention to, and maybe the things that are a little beyond our control that might cause anger or jealousy or shame or whatever it might be that we can get caught up in when things we can't really affect and frustration and all those kinds of things that, you know, we can take a little bit of time to let them be distanced from us and really focus on who he wants us to love this day, who he wants us to engage this day, and by doing that, building up the kingdom of God, building up the body of Christ, caring for those in our midst, and allowing the Eucharist to truly have an effect on our daily life." ([00:12:44] (40 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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