Homily | June 4, 2026 | Love That Matters Most | (Episode 147)

One of the great tragedies of modern life is that we have become experts in many things and beginners in things that matter most.

We know how to operate smartphones, navigate airports, manage investments, and use artificial intelligence.

We can access almost any information in the world within seconds.

But ask the average person what's the purpose of your life?

And many will struggle to answer that.

You can ask someone, what matters most to you?

And suddenly the room becomes quiet.

That is what makes today's gospel so refreshing.

A scribe approaches Jesus and asks a question that every human being should be able at some point to answer.

Which of the first of all the commandments?

In other words, what's the most important?

What is life really all about?

If I forget everything else, what must I remember?

And Jesus answers with a breathtaking simplicity.

Love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind, and all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.

That's it.

Everything else flows from that.

Notice what Jesus does not say.

He does not begin with rules, he does not begin with obligations, he does not begin with rituals, he begins with love.

Why?

Because Christianity is not first about what we do for God, it is first about our relationship with God.

The saints knew this.

The greatest saints were not necessarily the most talented, the most educated, the most beautiful, or the most successful.

They were the people who learned how to love.

Saint Therese of Lisieux spent most of her life hidden in a convent.

Saint John Bieni struggled academically.

Saint Theresa of Calcutta spent decades feeling spiritually empty.

And yet they changed the world because they loved God completely.

That's why the scribe's response is so remarkable.

He tells Jesus that loving God and loving neighbor are worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.

In other words, he understands something many religious people miss.

Religion without love becomes performance.

Prayer without love becomes routine, a burden.

Worship without love becomes empty.

The Pharisees often knew the rules but missed the relationship.

The scribes, this scribe is beginning to see the heart of it all.

That's why Jesus tells him, You are not far from the kingdom of God.

What an interesting phrase.

Not far.

Close, but not yet inside.

Why?

Well, because knowing the answer and living the answer are two different things.

The scribe understood the truth intellectually.

Now he had to surrender to it personally.

And honestly, that may be where many of us find ourselves today.

Most Catholics know they should love God.

They know they should love their neighbor, but the challenge is not understanding it, the challenge is actually doing it.

Loving God when life is going well is one thing.

Loving God when prayers seem unanswered is another.

Loving our neighbor when they are kind and wonderful and easy.

Loving our neighbor when they're when they wound us is difficult.

Loving our neighbor when they agree with us is natural.

Loving our neighbor when they frustrate us and disappoint us, that's hard.

Then we hear Saint Paul in the first reading.

Paul is writing from prison, he's in chains, and yet listen to his confidence.

The word of God is not chained.

What a powerful statement.

His body's imprisoned, his circumstances are difficult, his future is uncertain, but the gospel remains free.

And then Saint Paul gives us one of the most beautiful lines.

If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful.

That does not mean our choices do not matter, they do.

Paul has already warned that if we deny Christ, we place ourselves outside of his friendship.

But Saint Paul's point is that God's faithfulness is greater than our weaknesses.

God does not wake up one morning and decide to stop loving us.

God does not abandon us when we stumble.

God remains faithful even when we struggle.

That's the foundation of our Christian life.

Not our perfection, his faithfulness.

Perhaps that is the connection between the readings today.

The reason we can love God with all of our heart is because we because he first loved us with all of his whole heart.

The reason we can persevere is because he remains faithful.

The reason we love difficult people is because he continues to love people difficult people like us.

So perhaps today we should ask ourselves a simple question.

Someone watched my life for a week, what would they conclude I love most?

My career, my comfort, my things, my reputation, my possessions, or God?

Because at the end of our lives, Jesus will not ask how much busy we were.

He will not ask how much money we accumulated.

He will not ask how many emails were answered.

He will ask whether we learned the lesson at the center of today's gospel.

Do we love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength?

And did we love our neighbor as ourselves?

Everything else is secondary.

Everything passes away and fades.

But love that endures forever.

Amen.