Thursday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
They say the truth will set you free. It may be cliché, but there is truth in this pithy statement. Freedom and truth go hand in hand. Yet, sometimes when faced with the truth, we are filled with fear.
This was the case for the onlookers who heard Jesus affirm the truth that the greatest commandment is to love God above all things and to love your neighbor as yourself. After this, “no one dared to ask him any more questions.” Scripture does not tell us why. Perhaps they were amazed that a truth so simple and so rich could get them close to the kingdom of God. Perhaps they were afraid because they felt they didn’t love God, or their neighbor, or even themselves enough to fulfill the commandment. I suspect each one of us reading this has had at least one, if not all, of these fears at one point or another. But Jesus, being the teacher that he is, does not reproach our questions, our doubts. He welcomes them when we ask them with an honest, seeking heart. Jesus is the truth, and as St. Paul tells us in today’s first reading, his word cannot be chained. His word sets us free.