“You shall love the Lord your God” (Mk 12:29)
In light of today’s Gospel, Jesus’ question to Peter in the Gospel of John takes on a new meaning. When Jesus comes to Peter on the seashore after the Resurrection, he asks Peter, “Do you love me?” Now Jesus is God, and so the words from today’s Gospel help illuminate that question. We might rephrase the question to Peter as this: “Peter, do you love me with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength?” Jesus asks all of his followers such a question, and it is the perfect mediation for Lent: what is the depth of my love for Jesus, and how can I grow to love him more?
St. Ignatius, at the end of his Spiritual Exercises wrote a prayer called the Suscipe. At the end of this prayer, Ignatius begs God to grant Ignatius the grace to love God “Give me only love of you and your grace for that is enough for me.” The love Ignatius was praying for in this prayer, a prayer Pope Benedict loved to pray, is the love that Jesus speaks of in today’s Gospel: a love of God that consumes one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength. Pray today with the Gospel or the Suscipe and ask God to increase your love for God this Lent.