What is the greatest commandment?
Luke 10: 27 He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
The following two verses may bring the greatest commandment into focus.
John 3:36 “Those who know me will have eternal joy, those who disobey me have my eternal wrath.”
Revelations 22-12 “Behold, I am coming soon! I will give recompense to each, according to their deeds”
We live in a world that is motivated by prospect of gain and fear of loss.
We experience the prospect of gain by who we support in government, our jobs, our education, our homes and our investments. In the world we prepare for the fear of loss with insurance, unions, healthcare and plans for safety.
Where salvation is concerned, we almost always are counting on prospect of gain. We can attain heaven by having a personal relationship with God, by going to church, doing good deeds and praying. If done out of love, they bear much fruit and favor with God, who gives us grace. A more compelling but often overlooked motivation is fear of loss. Despite all of God’s signs and the incredible interventions of the Spirit, it comes down to free will and the First Commandment. Where does obedience to God rank in your relationship to family, children, grandchildren and a comfortable life?
God the Father’s request for obedience is no less than He asked of Jesus. We all have a destiny. Is it worldly, or is it the unseen hereafter?
Karen experienced the power of the Holy Spirit within herself and others as God carried out His will. She called on Jesus Christ in the Eucharist and in Adoration to find courage, but it was God the Father who came in a cloud, that put her to the test.
The Transfiguration
Matthew 17: 5 While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
Clarence