[Sundaycommunity] reflection: The Essential Commandments.

[Martha Crean]

Thank you, Art for writing and sharing this very inspired reflection
Martha Crean

On Sat, Nov 2, 2024 at 2:48 PM Arthur Blomme via Sundaycommunity <
sundaycommunity at lists.integralshift.ca> wrote:

> In case you don't get around to reading the peoples progress I would like
> to share with you my reflection on this Sunday's readings.  I do not wish
> to be solely judged by my opinion on social matters.
>
> Art
>
> The Essential Commandments
>
> By Art Blomme Oct 31,2024
>
> This Sunday’s  Gospel relates the two commandments that form the essence
> of Christian faith.
>
> *"The first is, `Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and
> you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your
> soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.'*
>
> With this commandment we acknowledge that ultimate reality is outside of
> our self (a power greater than our self) and exhorts us to love ultimate
> reality with all our being.  It is a contemplation through which we
> abandon our inclination towards self-aggrandizement or self-deprecation.
>
> *The second is this, `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is
> no other commandment greater than these."*
>
> This commandment is the essential practice that unifies us as a communion
> of faithful. It breaks down the barriers that separate us from one another.
> We go beyond tolerating or accepting the other to loving the other.
>
> Joan Chitiser once stated that the strong impulse toward orthodoxy is a
> product of the Council of Nicaea.  Before Constantine’s council having
> one unified set of beliefs was not an issue for most Christians. More
> important than beliefs was orthopraxis or the practice of obeying these
> essential commandments.
>
> While a common set of beliefs served to unite the Holy Roman Empire into a
> coherent organization,  it also created a division between believers and
> nonbelievers.  Whereas Jesus called us to radical inclusivity, the creed
> teaches us to exclude people based on their beliefs. It thus gives us a
> false notion of Communion that unites us by excluding the other.
>
> Defining ourselves by who we exclude remains a prominent part of our
> culture today.  Think of the nasty polarization between the left  and the
> right in our countries politics. We remain divided by creed, by party
> politics and the loyalties that lead us to support war with our neighbours.
> We are easily manipulated by worldly powers who exacerbate our fear of
> other.
>
> In the working document of the Synod on Synodality passage 50 voices this
> concern over the exclusion of those with different beliefs from the Body of
> Christ.
>
> 50.* Dialogue between religions and with cultures is not external to the
> synodal journey but is part of its call to live closer relations, given
> that "At all times and in every nation whoever fears God and does what is
> right is acceptable to God" (LG 9). Therefore, the exchange of gifts is not
> limited to the Christian Churches because an authentic Catholicity broadens
> the horizon and calls for the willingness to embrace those factors that
> promote life, peace, justice, and integral human development present in
> other cultures and religious traditions.*
>
> The document reminds us that the body of Christ extends beyond the
> Christian churches to include the gifts of all peoples who are faithful in
> the practice of  these two most important commandments voiced in the
> Gospels  by Jesus of Nazareth.
>
> Who all do you think participates with you  in the Body of Christ today?
> With whom are you in Communion?
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>
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