According to Jesus, the first (most important) commandment is to love God with heart, mind, soul, and strength. This is usually taken to mean loving God with your whole being. But it wouldn’t hurt to look at the modern meanings of those words to see how we can apply them.

The heart is the one organ that all others depend on to keep living. It is also a symbol of our desires and love. So to love God with all your heart can mean that you recognize God as the one source of your life. Now, that is easy to say as a philosophical concept. But it also means that you love God above everything and everyone. How many of us can say we would rather spend time with God than with our friends, family, or loved ones?

To love God with all your mind can mean that you never stop thinking of God. That is not as difficult as it sounds. You can ask God to help you any time you make a decision, whether it is what to watch next on TV, or what to do for a living. Loving God with your mind can also mean knowing God. The better you know God, the more likely you are to hear God in your decisions. You can get to know God through the scriptures and other spiritual reading. Hearing God may require you to consider the next way to love: with your soul.

If the soul is the center of your spiritual life, then loving God with all your soul can remind you to listen to God when you pray. If prayer is a conversation with God, you might remember how annoying it can be to converse with someone who does all the talking. At first it is easy, but eventually you find yourself getting nervous because you have things you would like to say also. Think of that when you pray; give God a chance to put in a few words, too.

Finally, to love God with all your strength can mean you put as much energy into loving God as you do with exercising, doing your day-job, cleaning the house, or mowing the lawn. Fortunately, none of those activities has to replace loving God, for you can do each of them as if you were working for the Lord. Just remember that no matter how hard you work for the Lord, God loves you even more than you love Him. -Tom Schmidt, Diocesan Publications

---

TREASURES FROM OUR TRADITION

Every four years, we engage in one of the core activities of our democratic system: a presidential election. Actually, the institution of election can be traced to traditions in the Church, and although bishops are no longer chosen in this way, abbots and abbesses (heads of monastic communities) have almost always been elected by full voting members of their communities. The lifetime appointment begins when the monks or nuns are gathered in “chapter” at the death or resignation of the abbot, and fortunately for all involved, campaigning is not allowed! The members of the community discern, with prayer to the Holy Spirit, who among them is the best suited for leadership. Once chosen, the new leader requests the blessing of the local bishop, who usually presides at a ceremony of consecration or investiture. The ballots are always secret, and a simple majority must be achieved.

In our American system the Electoral College is the determining voice in the presidential election, not the popular election on a November Tuesday, just as the monastic chapter is the electorate. Today, most religious orders elect general superiors in “chapter” by delegates of the professed members, and usually for a term of six years. A few, like the Jesuits, elect for life. At least we don’t have that weight on our shoulders when we choose a president. Four years at a time will do! —Rev. James Field, Diocesan Publications