MATTHEW 22:34-40

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

Gospelthink: I give you the two fundamentals laws for good moral living.

The story of the song is this: She wanted "a feeling that I belonged; a feeling I could be someone." She sets out to do it with him and his fast car, and initially they had a good time, even though he never got a job. Then she had problems at home that she took the time to take care of, but the image of the good life won her over. She and her boyfriend made the decision to leave in his fast car and she finally felt that she could be someone. She was living in a dream world, however, and it didn't turn out very well. He still wouldn't get a job and her job did not pay enough money with her job as a checkout girl, although she was always hoping things would get better. In the end, she had to get a job that paid all the bills while he stayed out late at the bar, seeing more of his friends that he saw of her and the kids they had. She had always hoped for better. At the end, she tells him: "Take your fast car and keep on driving."

Jesus felt that the Jewish Law was good. After all, he had grown up with it, and it had been a source of direction for him and his fellow Jewish people. But as he began his ministry, teaching this very same Law, he felt that it did not go far enough. You can't legislate for every action with specific laws. And so, some kind of general law was in order. He formulated such a general law by first of all going to the Shema, the general statement that began every Jewish prayer service. And then he went to the book of Leviticus for the other. The answer to the Pharisee's question, then, gave the general rule which becomes the guideline for the followers of Jesus in today's world: love God and love neighbor.

The problem with such a general law is that it often is at odds with what we want--our selfishness. In Luke Combs's story in song, "Fast Car." a story that Tracy Chapman first sang in the 80's, the person wanted to have a good life, to "be someone" as she called it. But she began it by satisfying herself: she wanted the symbol of a good life: the fast car or in general, the fast lane, whereby she would satisfy herself, and then, everything else would follow.

As with everything that has self-glorification as its goal, it didn't work out. She went through life with her goal in mind, through marriage, sickness in her family, having children, and living day-to-day. And as a result, she was unable to learn to "be someone." As she said, she had always hoped for better. Her final statement is a statement of despair.

There is a tremendous lesson here as one studies our own lives. If we begin with selfishness as a foundation, our lives will go nowhere in the sense that we will not achieve true self-fulfillment. We will always "hope for better." But if we begin with the desire to serve God and neighbor as a general rule and go through our lives with that as our guide instead of mere selfishness, then we can look forward to the goal to truly "be someone."

It is a matter of a "mind-set" as we begin our time of serious thinking. If our mind-set is what I want, and what I alone can enjoy, our life will bring about the result of man-made disasters, no matter how much money or "things" we have. But if we begin with God's directives in mind, which always includes a true love of self and love of others, we will find that our lives will be truly happy and fulfilled. We will truly "be someone."

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, we all want to "be someone" in our world. That is, we want to accomplish good things in our lives and be truly happy. Give us the grace to see that in order to fulfill that goal, we must begin it with what You want of us. Be with us, we pray.

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GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme:  If we want to succeed in life, there are some fundamental guidelines we must follow.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What does the song "Fast Car" teach young people?  
2. In general, what are the most important commandements that follow from the Lord's directive to "love your neighbor"?
3. What do you think the song suggests to do in order to "be someone."
4. What is your own definition of to "be someone.'
5. In your opinion, do most Christians follow the law of "love God and love neighbor"? Yes or no and why?
6. What do young people want most of all?
7. What is the most common sign of selfishness in our world today?
8. What is the difference between how the world defines "self-fulfillment" and how Jesus would define it?  

©2007 Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America