First Communion is always a joyous celebration in each parish.

In one parish a family was preparing for the First Communion of their son Kevin. At the time it was the tradition that boys receiving their First Communion all dress in white suits, and for girls to wear a white dress. So, Kevin’s parents took him shopping to find his white suit for his First Communion.

Even though Kevin was only seven years old, he had his own ideas about what it meant to dress formally. His idea of getting dressed up was wearing a clean tee shirt and a pair of jeans without any holes. (Since I’ve been retired, I find that I think a lot like Kevin about what constitutes dressing up).

But for Kevin, since it was his First Communion, he knew he would have to dress up like his dad, in a suit and tie for the first time. He tried on several suits in the department store and finally found one that fit him. He came out of the dressing room and was standing in front of the full-length mirror when he said in a loud voice,

“God’s not going to recognize me in a suit and tie.”

His father reassured him that God would always recognize him no matter how he was dressed.

 In today’s Gospel we once again find Jesus once again confronted by the Pharisees who are trying to test him. But the character of the testing in today’s gospel has changed from the gospels of the previous few weeks. In Matthew’s prior gospels, the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Herodians questions were designed to trick Jesus and thus discredit his teaching. But today’s question to Jesus is a respectful one, one not designed to trap but a question that was the type debated among the knowledgeable and educated rabbis and which showed a sincere interest in Jesus’ opinions and teachings.

Jesus was having an impact on the Jews he’d come to save. There were those among the Jewish hierarchy who sought to preserve their prerogatives, their comfortable lives, and especially their power. They found Jesus’ message of self-sacrifice, poverty of the soul, respect for every person, and priority of God, challenging to their privileged lives. But in today’s gospel we start to see others, those who were sincere in their faith and commitment to God’s teachings and saw the truth in Christ’s message.

The Pharisees asked him which was the greatest of God’s commandments.

As was often the case instead of answering directly, Jesus responded “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

And if they missed his point he continued: “The second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Finally, Jesus observed that “The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Matthew goes on to say that from that day on no one dared to ask Jesus any more questions.

Indeed, there are no more questions to be asked. Because truly, if we love God completely, we would understand that all of the commands contained in the ten commandments were encompassed in these two, and even at that, the complete love for God of which Jesus spoke in his first command also means loving and respecting his creations, our neighbors and ourselves.

Preparing for his First Communion, Kevin was worried that God might not recognize him because he would be dressed in an unusual way, but his father assured him that God would always know who he was, and this is certainly true. God truly and always sees us for who we are, no matter how we might disguise ourselves.

Our greater problem is whether we recognize God. Mother Teresa said, “God comes in many disguises…sometimes distressing disguises.” In today’s Gospel, in the Father’s first and greatest commandment, Jesus challenges us to honor God, to search him out in whatever disguise he chooses to hide. He may be the displaced illegal immigrant, the poor, the people forced through circumstances or mental illness to live on the street, the sick, the elderly who have outlived their friends and family. It’s important for us to recognize that if God’s disguise isn’t distressing, it doesn’t challenge our Christianity.

In Luke’s Gospel telling the story of the journey to Emmaus, Christ walked with two disciples who didn’t recognize him as he walked and talked with them on the dusty road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. They told Jesus about the crucifixion and Jesus interpreted scripture for them.

When did they finally recognize this stranger as Jesus the Christ? It was when they invited him to stay with them in the breaking of the bread. They recognized him when they welcomed him and invited him to stay with them.

I wonder how many opportunities in my life I’ve had when I failed to recognize Jesus and welcome him. As Kevin’s father assured him, God will never fail to know us and to welcome us. Our challenge is to see him in others, especially those who might repel us the most.

Today’s Gospel calls the followers of Christ to honor God above all else, and in honoring him we must recognizing God in those around us. Often this isn’t easy, but the path of Christianity isn’t an easy one. What Christ calls us to do often contradicts our inherent human drives urges toward personal ambition and well-being.

But we must realize that love is self-sacrifice. And the love to which Christ calls us in today’s gospel is a reflection of his own self-sacrifice for us. Take some time out today, ask yourselves have I shown God the love he calls me to in today’s Gospel? Have I seen God in our neighbor in His most distressing disguises? If I have then it is our obligation, our blessing, and our joy to demonstrate our Christianity to those that we find most difficult to love.

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