love your neighbor AS YOURSELF!

USCCB - (NAB) - February 29, 2008: "Mk 12:28-34

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
“Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus replied, “The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.”"

Those two words 'as yourself' often go un-noticed or get over looked by good intentioned Christians. We are so busy loving and caring for others that the person who gets the scraps from the heap is often us...and we think that we are doing a great and holy thing. Not exactly. We are to love others as ourselves...which means that it starts with loving yourself (in a balanced way of course). You can't love others if you are completly exhausted, drained and with nothing left. You need to fill yourself up first. Just like the airplanes tell you to do in case of an emergency...apply your own oxygen first and then attend to those near you. So...'fill up' on God's graces by partaking of the Sacraments (the Church is the 'gas station' that the Lord left for us, to keep us going until His return), develop an intimate and personal relationship with Him and allow Him to guide you forward and to show you what you need to do to better care for yourself and then others. That's our whole mission here! Simple...huh?

By the way...I have a small group of friends meeting regularly with me over at 'Spark People'...the group is called 'A Mother's Heart in Motion' and our whole purpose is 'To love God with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength and others as our selves.(Mark 12:28-31) By taking up our daily cross and following Him. (Luke 9:23)'. We are learning to care for ourselves through diet and exercise, caring for our loved ones through frugality and simplicity and Loving God with our whole hearts through prayer and praise. If you are interested in joining us, let me know and I'll send you an invite.