There is much in the Sacred Scriptures about the heart: “Create a clean heart in me, O God;” “A humble, contrite heart, O God, you will not despise;” “God is near to the broken-hearted;” “My child, give me your heart;” “I desire love, not sacrifice” (God is speaking). And much more.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus upbraids the pharisees because they offer God mere lip-service but their hearts are far from him. They rely on works of The Law to justify themselves, puffing themselves up with pride and despising everyone else.

We all must labor for God; we all must do our part. But it is not our work that God wants – he wants our hearts; he wants us to fall in love with him. Here is the pearl of great price. When we love, everything we touch turns to gold; without love we are, as St Paul tells us, “a sounding gong, a clanging cymbal;” our works are useless.

And how do we know when we love God? Life itself is the proof: our values, our goals or purpose, our relationships to our neighbor – all these tell us where our hearts are.  St Paul tells us, “Charity (love) is patient and kind…. It does not envy…. It is not self-seeking….. It does not brood over injuries…. It rejoices in the truth.” And we learn from the Old Testament prophet Micah, “This is what the Lord requires of you: Only to act justly, to love faithfully, and to walk humbly with your God” (6:8).

In the end, we shall be judged by how we love, what we love. Love alone endures forever. All else, in the end, falls away.