The Revolution of Unity - 31st Sunday in OT, B
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| From jewishvirtuallibrary.org |
“Sh'ma Yisra'eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad.” No, I’m not speaking gibberish, I’m speaking Hebrew. In fact, this is the Shema prayer, contained in both the first reading and the Gospel. “Sh’ma Yisra’eil” – Hear, O Israel. “Adonai Eloheinu” – The Lord is our God. “Adonai echad.” – The Lord is one. Faithful Jews will pray this prayer every day when waking up and before going to bed, and it forms the foundation of both the Jewish and the Christian faith. Jesus affirms this as the greatest commandment: that because our God is the one God, we are to love Him with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all your strength. It sounds pretty great, doesn’t it? But what does it mean to believe in this? What does it mean to live this out?
As I was praying
with these Scriptures, this phrase came to mind: “Revolution of Unity.” There’s something new, something startling,
happening here, both in the Gospel and in our lives. How often do we feel scattered or disjointed? Think about our own society and nation in
these days, or even in our own Church, all the division that we can
encounter. Don’t we want greater unity
within our lives? Can our nation and our
world really be one?
As we see in
today’s readings, this revolution of unity has been going on for quite a while. Just think about the Israelites and the
culture they lived in. Before the time
of Abraham, the common belief was polytheism, that there were many gods
governing different aspects of the universe.
Think about the Greek or Roman gods – you have the god of the sky, of
the seas, of love, of wisdom, of the animals, and so forth. For the Israelites following Abraham, it
would have been easy for them to think, “The Lord is our God among others,” or,
“Our God is the greatest of the gods.”
It’s when we get to today’s first reading that monotheism is clearly
affirmed – that there is only one God.
As simple as this is, we see throughout the Old Testament how many
Israelites just don’t get it – so often, the people and even the kings create
idols that they worship and offer sacrifice to, leading to them falling away
from worshiping the true God. However,
in the few hundred years before Christ, it seems that this became less of a
temptation for the Jewish people; they held firm to monotheism in the midst of
other cultures – a revolution of unity.
What is even more challenging
is Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God. He
refers to God as His Father and says such crazy things: “Before Abraham was, I
AM,” “The Father and I are one,” “You
will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of God.” Wait a minute, if there is one God, and if
this man Jesus is claiming to be God, is he making himself a second God? That’s the main charge of blasphemy against
Jesus, leading to his death. But again,
this is a revolution. Indeed, there is
one God, but there are three Persons in one God – the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. It took a few centuries for
the saints and theologians to figure out the language to describe this, and we
use this language in our creed, such as that big word “consubstantial,” meaning
of the same substance, unified in its very being. When we say this, we affirm that the Father,
Son, and Spirit, while being different Persons, are each fully God – that there
is indeed one God in three Persons. While
it’s a mystery, it’s the truth of our faith – a revolution of unity.
I say all of this
because of one key principle: what we believe affects what we do. If I were to believe that multiple gods
existed, then it would be natural to assume that there’s natural division
between these gods and thus between their peoples. Then I’d be unsure: where do I devote my
worship and life to – part time to this god, part time to another one? And there would inevitably be rivalry and
division between these different nations and even between the gods
themselves. But because there is one
God, then all of us as human beings have one aim: to be with this God and
follow Him, who has made us for His love.
Just as this
revolution of unity has taken place throughout history, it also takes place
within our lives. For myself, during
this past week, I felt really scattered, trying to do a lot of different
things: doing schoolwork, spending time with brothers, filming a hilarious
video for our Halloween party, being present at our dinner auction last night,
writing a paper, writing this homily, exercising, sleeping, praying, and
everything else. If I’m not careful, I
can easily place some of these tasks or priorities ahead of my relationship
with God, making me like the Israelites who worshipped other gods. But I’ve been reminded that all of these
things can be done for the love of God and for the love of my neighbors, that I
can do these things for God and in God, who lets us share His own love. And when I live this out, I find that I can
review my days in prayer and see God’s presence in everything, unifying my
heart in His love.
In a similar way,
this also applies to our relationships with each other. While Jesus asks for our whole selves, he
also affirms that the second great commandment is to love our neighbors as
ourselves. If all people are created and
loved by the one God, then we are fundamentally united together as brothers and
sisters. This unity goes beyond nations,
race, culture, political or religious beliefs, age, interests, whatever else – by
God’s grace, I am called to love all of my neighbors with this unifying
love. From this love, we can then
discover deeper unity, leading each other to the truth of who God is and what
He calls us to. Yes, this world
desperately needs an authentic revolution of unity, and God wants to work
through us and all others to bring this about.
Here’s the question
for all of us this morning: where do we desire this revolution of unity to take
place in our lives right now? Maybe we
ask to be strengthened in our faith, to overcome our doubts of the one God’s
existence and love for us. Maybe we’re
feeling scattered and torn in many different directions and activities. Maybe we’re struggling with loving particular
neighbors or groups of people. So take
that desire, that prayer, and offer it to God during this Mass, so that as we
approach this one altar to receive the Eucharist, which unites us all in the
Body of Christ, Jesus gathers us into Himself, becomes present in our hearts,
and leads us toward reconciliation and unity.
So we hear again
with open hearts, Sh'ma Yisra'eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad. Hear, O Immaculate Conception, The Lord
is our God, the Lord is One.
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