First, let us see what it means to love God. As Pseudo-Chrysostom tells us, “love is more than to fear; to fear belongs to slaves, to love to sons; fear is in compulsion, love in freedom” (Catena aurea, vol. 1, pg. 619, 2014). So, with the freedom of the sons and daughters of God, we are to come to the Lord in our liberty, and pursue Him as greatest good of our lives. No other relationship, no other creature, no other thing should come between us, and the love of God. The love of husband, wife, son, daughter, the care and concern for property, the concern for our own health and well-being, all of these should only come after our love for God. Pseudo-Chrysostom continues, “God does not desire to be served servilely by men as a master, but to be loved as a father” (Catena aurea, vol. 1, pg. 619, 2014). In other words, we are to come to God as a father, as a dad, as a parent. How are we to come to God? With our whole heart, soul, and mind.
So, as we hear these words, perhaps we can ask ourselves the question: do I more love God in freedom, or do I more fear Him in compulsion. Do I more come to Him in liberty, or do I more obey Him because of duty? If we see that we are still wanting in these areas, perhaps we can ask God “help me to love you better.” There is no question that we too will live better, holier, and more just and godly lives, if we love God first. As he comments on this passage, St. Augustine writes, “For man is then the most perfect when his whole life tends towards the life unchangeable, and clings to it with the whole purpose of his soul” (Catena aurea, vol. 1, pg. 619, 2014). When we focus on the perfect and the unchangeable – God himself – we benefit, by becoming more perfect, by becoming an image of God’s goodness. How much less depression, anxiety, and fear would there be in our society, if people focussed on loving God first, on loving God, in freedom, with their whole heart, soul, and mind. If we had this first commandment right, then all of our other relationships would benefit: all of our relationships would be better ordered, healthier, and less egocentric.
The commandment to love God is immediately followed by the commandment to love our neighbour as ourselves. This week, we have an opportunity to love our neighbour by focusing on a class of people whom we may not see, but who are very much in need of our care and prayers: these are the holy souls in purgatory. The Catechism teaches us, “All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven” (CCC 1030). This coming week, with the Solemnity of All Saints on Wednesday, and All Souls’ Day on Thursday, offers us a great opportunity to pray for the souls in purgatory, to assist in their purification. We can offer Masses, Holy Communions, our own personal prayers and devotions, works of charity, and almsgiving, for the intention of the souls in purgatory. We should visit our cemeteries, and this in fact we’ll be doing after all Masses this weekend. We should focus our prayers first on our own deceased family members, immediate and extended, and then on others whom we had met in our lives. Many of you have ancestors buried here, the pioneering Polish Kashubs who came to these rugged lands – please remember to pray for them. Finally, we can pray for those who are neglected and forgotten by their families. As we pray for the souls, they pray for us, and intercede for us. The love of neighbour includes prayer for the suffering members of the Church in purgatory.
Finally, I would like to close with the prayer of Pope Francis, the prayer he said at the end of the holy hour, held in the Vatican on Friday, October 26th, which was a day of prayer and fasting for peace. The Pope prayed, addressing the Blessed Virgin Mary: “Mary, how many times have you come, urging prayer and repentance. Yet, caught up in our own needs and distracted by the things of this world, we have turned a deaf ear to your appeal. In your love for us, you never abandon us, Mother. Lead us by the hand…help us once again to put God first… By ourselves, Mother, we cannot succeed; without your Son, we can do nothing. But you bring us back to Jesus, who is our Peace. Therefore, Mother of God and our Mother, we come before you and we seek refuge in your Immaculate Heart. Mother of mercy, we appeal for mercy!.. To you we entrust and consecrate our lives and every fibre of our being, all that we possess and all that we are, forever. To you we consecrate the Church, so that in her witness to the love of Jesus before the world, she may be a sign of harmony and an instrument of peace. To you we consecrate our world, to you we consecrate especially those countries and regions at war” (https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/prayers/documents/20231027-preghiera-pace.html (accessed on October 28, 2023).
Let us love the Lord with our whole heart, mind, and soul. Let us love our neighbour as ourselves, also by praying for those who are suffering in purgatory. Let us once again entrust ourselves and our world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.(Fr. Paweł Ratajczak, OMI, Oct. 30, 2023)