Tuesday Week 5 OT Year 1

Welcome to mass this morning. In our scriptures today we continue with the book of Genesis and the second part of creation. In our Gospel today from St Mark, Jesus reminds us to be true to demands of the heart.

I offer this mass for the soul of Michael Kelly, who has died recently, May he rest in peace.

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God saw that it was good. So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them;

We are wired for love - God out of his love made the world and all that it contains. He created two compatible humans - Male and Female he created them.

He asks of us to love, not love our selves in that total selfish way where no one else but our selves matters. No, he created us so that we could love the other. He created us to love the world, to spend time looking after the world - not destroying it, but encouraging it, just as God encourages all of it to grow and to form.

How many of us encourage plants with flowers to grow? How many of us encourage children to learn, to be part of society, to be responsible for their belongings. How many of us provide an example of how to love ones spouse? If we are drawn into some of unhappyness around us, then we would be told that it is my body and I can do what I want with it. This level of individualism, and selfishness, is painful and needs to be understood - but it needs to be understood with love and time. Not with surgery, or ink, or attached jewellery.

In the Gospel Jesus was making the point that the pharisees were not wanting to honour their parents, by using God as an excuse. Jesus, rightly picks them up on it.

We must love the other, not out of personal gain or satisfaction, but rather, because we want the best for the other - just as God wants the best for each one of us, who he loves dearly.

So let us ask God to open our minds and our hearts more dearly towards his love, so that we can radiate this love out more to those we meet, to those we know, to those we find in need, to those we know who are hurting at this time.

Amen.