As a high school teacher, I am struck as I read this passage by what the scholar of the law says to Jesus after he speaks of the importance of loving God and loving our neighbor. He responds to Jesus by saying, “Well said, teacher.” I think of my students before me when they give me feedback that is unsolicited, surprising, and refreshing.
I wonder what Jesus thought to himself, or what he felt, as a peer of his confirmed his beliefs. Maybe he felt closer to God and that he was on the right track in his life. I know this is the case for me in the classroom. My students confirm me in my vocation.
It could be worth thinking of this short gospel passage less as a pronouncement of Jesus´ than as his sharing his beliefs with another. It is God who drives him and fills him with hope. This scholar felt the same. They both shared how God is everything to them.
You and I might ask ourselves with whom do we share what is truly on our mind and heart. Is prayer the time where I share what is on my heart? Have I had the chance recently to tell God how much God means to me? Are their people in my life who refresh me with their unsolicited, spontaneous sharing?
I can pray to Jesus, who knew how to share himself with others, that he might help me share who I am with God, so that the Kingdom might come nearer to me.
—Christopher Staab, S.J. is a Jesuit scholastic teaching at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Chicago IL