From the moment in Chapter 12 of the Book of Genesis when God promises salvation to Abraham, the story of the Old Testament people is one of them repeatedly being called to faithfulness. In the Book of Deuteronomy, we listen to Moses, who having just received the Ten Commandments, now tells the people not to regard these Commandments as a list of instructions to be obeyed, but words to be written on their hearts.

When Jesus is questioned by the scribe about which is the first of the commandments, without hesitation, Jesus sums it all up by reminding him that everything begins and ends with the love of God and our neighbour. Happily, and for once with one of the scribes, the conversation ends in agreement and Jesus is able to assure him that he is “not far from the Kingdom of God.” Notably the scribe has recognised that love is more important than any holocaust or sacrifice.

I suggest that here we have a fruitful focus for our meditation. The Law of God is not there to make life difficult for us or to catch us out, but when it is written on our hearts, it enables us to live a life of love: to live life to the full. When Jesus came into our world he presented us with a wholly new vision of God. He reveals that God is a Father who has created us for love and in sending his Son has shown us the ultimate meaning of sacrifice, for we now know that we have a God who literally loves us to death.

Accordingly, in the letter to the Hebrews the nature of priesthood and sacrifice is explored. Christ has made the ultimate sacrifice “once and for all.” Now it is up to us to imitate his sacrificial form of loving by recognising that love is the emptying of ourselves so that we can give ourselves completely to God and our neighbour.

That is precisely why we gather each Sunday to celebrate the Eucharist: the memorial of Christ’s sacrifice and the means whereby he fulfils his promise to be with us always; the means whereby he unites us with himself and one another by feeding us with himself.

Jesus assured us the Holy Spirit would lead us to all truth: the truth about God, about ourselves and about the world around us. At each Eucharist we invoke the Holy Spirit to make Christ present so that we can indeed be transformed into his Body and be able to proclaim a message of love, hope, compassion and reconciliation to a world which so desperately needs more people to have God’s word written on their hearts.

When we are sent forth from the Eucharist this weekend, may it be with renewed confidence that God’s word is written large on our hearts.

Timothy J Buckley CSsR

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