Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Tone 6; Holy Prophet Zachariah and Elisabeth, Parents of John the Baptist
2 Corinthians 4:6-15; Matthew 22:35-46
Read Matthew 22:35-46
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.”
Love the Lord with all your mind? It seems an almost impossible task. Our mind seems to be quite often all over the place and distracted by inner thoughts and outer sensations. How can one have any control over these wild thoughts?
St Jean-Marie Vianney gives this most insightful analogy. He says: `When the pot of soup is boiling, the flies will not sit upon it. Once the soup cools down, the flies begin to come nearer and finally sit upon the soup.” Similarly, when our prayer is warmed up with love, many of our thoughts fly away and become less distracting.
We warm up our prayer by starting with praise.