Episode Transcript
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On the love of God and of our neighbour
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hangs all the law and prophets.
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Jesus is telling us that love is the
foundation, the ordering principle,
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of everything in scripture,
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just as love is the ordering
principle of the universe,
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this glorious creation of our God who is love.
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Reading scripture through this lens of love
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helps us navigate those passages where God
might seem to endorse violence or hatred.
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We see how through the whole arc of the
biblical narrative the writers of scripture,
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by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
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are being drawn into a fuller
understanding of God’s true nature,
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a gradual revelation that corrects and redeems
their own, sometimes violent, images of God.
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As Christians it’s vital that we understand this,
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because we are all called to
bear witness to this God of love.
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If, through a distorted
understanding of scripture,
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we find ourselves defending any
kind of violence or prejudice,
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then the message of the Gospel,
of a God rich in merciful love,
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will likewise be distorted.
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The reading from Exodus
today sounds the true note:
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God hears the cry of the
widow, the orphan, the stranger
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because He is full of pity,
moved by our human need.
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There are those today who preach
a version of Christian charity
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that minimises or relativises empathy,
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that capacity to be moved by another’s need.
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But scripture places before us,
as the pattern for our own love,
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the love of God in Jesus Christ:
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a love which is grounded on
the encounter with the other.
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So let’s take up the challenge, in St
Paul’s words, to be imitators of Christ;
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let’s open our hearts to be
moved by the plight of others;
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let’s become true servants
of the real, living God.
