O.T.: Exodus 22:20-26; 1 Thes 1:5-10; Mt 22:34-30

Our Christian religion is based on the love of God and the love of our neighbors.  The love of God implies not merely the notional assent to the truths of faith but in the real, conscious, wholehearted response that makes God the chief motivation and reason of our life. The love of one’s neighbor is perhaps one of the surprising characteristics of our Christian faith, as indicated in the importance given to the duty of loving others.

A lawyer asked Jesus which was the greatest of all the laws. There were 613 of them in Hebrew Scripture. Which was the most important? Jesus often answered people’s questions with one of his own, but in this case, he gave an answer.  Here, he responded immediately to their question by combining two commandments into one. He told them: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with your entire mind.”  The heart was considered the center of knowing and feeling; the soul, the principle of life and the source of all one’s energies; and the mind, the center of perception.  Quoting from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18, he tells them that this is the first and most important Commandment. It summarizes the first four of the Ten Commandments given to Moses. Placing God first in one’s life means walking in faith and in the love of God. 

Love one’s neighbor as oneself summarises the last six of the Ten Commandments given to Moses. This second Commandment means that if we have the love of God within us, it should shine towards others. Love is meant to be shared, not to be selfishly kept to oneself.  Then Jesus said that on those two Commandments hangs the Law and the Prophets, which is the entire revelation of the Old Testament. The great saint John Chrysostom once said:  "I cannot believe in the salvation of those people who do not work for the salvation of their neighbours." These two commandments are two sides of the same coin. And are not in any way in contradiction.

If we fail to recognize our neighbor as our brother, we fail to recognize God as our Father, and we do not love him. The concept of the love of God implies not merely the notional assent to the truths of faith but the real, conscious, wholehearted response that makes God the chief motivation and reason in our life.

Adding the words to love your neighbor, "as yourself," Jesus puts us in front of a mirror before which we cannot lie; he has given us an infallible measure for determining whether we love our neighbor.

We know well in every circumstance what it means to love ourselves and how we want others to treat us. Note well that Jesus does not say: "What the other person does to you, do to him." This would be the law of talion: "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." He says rather: as you would like others to treat you, treat them in the same way (cf. Matthew 7:12).

When we speak of the love of neighbor, our minds turn immediately to "works" of charity, to the things that should be done for our neighbor: giving him to eat and drink, visiting him, in sum, helping our neighbor. But this is an effect of love; it is not yet love. Before "beneficence", there is "benevolence," that is, before doing good, there is willing good.

This interior charity, or charity of the heart, is the charity that can be exercised by all and always, and it is universal. It is not a charity that only a few -- the rich and the healthy -- bestow, and others -- the poor and the sick --receive. All can give and receive. Furthermore, it is very concrete. It is a matter of beginning to look with a new eye upon the situations and people with which we live. What is this new eye? It’s simple: it is the eye with which we would like God to look upon us! The eye of mercy, of benevolence, of understanding, of Charity of the Heart, mercy.

There are several means by which we can express our love for God and our gratitude to Him for His blessings, acknowledging our total dependence on Him.  We need to keep God’s commandments, and offer daily prayers of thanksgiving, praise and petition.  We also need to read and meditate on His word in the Bible and accept His invitation to join Him in the Mass and other liturgical functions when we can.

God’s will is that we should love everyone, seeing Him in our neighbor. Love of neighbour is at the heart of serving God /and being faithful to what God is asking of us.  Love of neighbour is not simply an optional part of our Christianity.

 Since every human being is the child of God and the dwelling place of the Spirit of God, we are actually giving expression to our love of God by loving our neighbor as Jesus loves him or her.  May the Lord today help open our eyes to see God in our neighbor and thus love him with all our heart, soul and mind.