LOVING GOD WITH OUR ALL


SAINT PETER OF VERONA, PRIEST    

2 Tim 2:8-15; Ps 24:4-5,8-10,14; Mk 12:28-34

The Precept of Charity

Our Christian profession of faith in Jesus Christ makes us participate in the life of the Trinity. Love is at the centre of the Trinity, for the Father loves the Son, whom He begets with love. The Son loves the Father, from whom he gets all things. The Holy Spirit is the love of the Father and the Son. Adopted in the Son through the Holy Spirit, we receive the same love with which the Son loves the Father. As we gradually grow in spiritual life, transitioning from our natural life to the spiritual, the love of God also grows in our hearts. The love grows as our spirit grows in Jesus Christ. Since the Son of Man is characterised by doing the will of the Father, we grow spiritually as we long to accomplish the will of the Father more and more in our lives. It is on this basis that the Lord summarised the commandments for the scribe who put the question of the greatest commandment to him. “This is the first: Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You must love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” Without this love for God, it is difficult to draw a spiritual life from God. Therefore, the Holy Spirit, by instilling in us a love for God, enables us to draw life from the Trinity and participate in the Trinitarian life.

The love for God that the Holy Spirit pours into us also enables us to gradually break from our former and sinful lifestyle. Our Christian journey becomes a pouring out of the old wine and abandonment of the old wineskin for a new wineskin and a new wine. As the scribe wisely added, the love of God is the core of our worship and sacrifices. The Son of God came among us to teach us the new religion of love. The Psalm foretold of his coming to institute a new and acceptable sacrifice to God of loving hearts and willing wills. The Holy Spirit, who pours the love of God into our hearts, is therefore the author of the Christian life and worship. “To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself, this is far more important than any holocaust or sacrifice.” The readiness to do the will of God in love is a result of constant prayer. If our hearts are not constantly inflamed with the fire of love through constant communion with the Holy Spirit, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to pour ourselves out for Christ.

Hence, the path of God that the Psalmist prays God to teach him is the path of love; God is love, and all who walk in God or claim to know and worship him must walk in love. “Lord, make me know your ways. Lord, teach me your paths. Make me walk in your truth, and teach me: for you are God my saviour.” Paul himself imitated and taught this path of love, which Jesus Christ walked to death on our behalf. Love is the core of the Gospel message. “Jesus Christ risen from the dead, sprung from the race of David; it is on account of this that I have my own hardships to bear, even to being chained like a criminal—but they cannot chain up God’s news. So I bear it all for the sake of those who are chosen, so that in the end they may have the salvation that is in Christ Jesus and the eternal glory that comes with it.” It is in this sense that the cross or yoke of Christ is easy and light to bear. The Holy Spirit He sends into our hearts makes us fall in love with Jesus Christ and the Father. So, every hardship is easily borne for the love of Jesus and the glory of God.

The same love moved Peter of Verona to sacrifice his life for God and the salvation of others. Peter was born in 1205 in Italy. He studied at the University of Bologna, where he met Saint Dominic and entered the Order of Preachers. Peter dedicated himself to religious life—he spent his days in study, prayer, or serving the sick. He grew into a successful preacher and travelled the region speaking to crowds. He had the gift of working miracles to accompany his preaching, and so many people were eager to hear him and be near him that he was often nearly crushed by the crowds that rushed together when he appeared. His efforts created some enemies, as can be imagined, and they soon began to threaten his life. He was killed on the Palm Sunday of 1252 by assassins while travelling through the woods with a fellow Dominican brother. He died reciting the Credo, while his companion died five days later. May his prayers help us to be courageous in proclaiming our faith in love.

Let us pray: Almighty and merciful God, who brought your Martyr blessed Peter of Verona to overcome the torments of his passion, grant that we, who celebrate the day of his triumph, may remain invincible under your protection against the snares of the enemy. Through our Lord Jesus, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.   

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