Saint Rose of Lima
The Greatest Commandment
Today's Gospel presents to us the greatest commandment summarised by Jesus from all the 613 pieces of laws in the Old Testament. He summarises it as loving God with all your heart, your soul and all your mind and that you shall love your neighbor as you love yourself. The pairing of these commandments was of course a shock to the Jews because they thought only love for God mattered not the love for the neighbor. Jesus puts them on the same level as being the greatest which means claiming that you love God while hate your neighbor is not love at all.
We often hear from our friends, our parents and other people that I love you, but which type of love are they talking about? Love is one of the most misused words in the world and so this requires us to understand what really Jesus means by love, so that we may imitate the love of Jesus alone.
True love of Jesus is not the warmth of companionship or of sex but is like the willing generosity of mother to helpless young child or daughter to helpless old parent, of wife to alcoholic husband or husband to paralysed wife, seeking no reward but the happiness of the receiver. True Love is what is focused on the happiness of the other, the way Jesus loved even at the expense of his Divinity. Paul gives a useful checklist in First Corinthians 13. The First Letter of John gives a shorter checklist: ‘No one who fails to love the brother or sister whom he can see, can love God whom he has not seen’. The real interests of the recipient of love may not always be easy to find, but the spirit of giving is unmistakable.
Therefore, Love is the gift of giving oneself for the good of others - it is wholly other oriented and directed to the welfare and benefit of others. Love which is rooted in pleasing myself is self-centered and possessive - it is a selfish love that takes from others rather than gives to others. It is a stunted and disordered love which leads to many hurtful and sinful desires - such as jealousy, greed, envy, and lust. The root of all sin is disordered love and pride which is fundamentally putting myself above God and my neighbor - it is loving and serving self rather than God and neighbor. True love, which is wholly directed and oriented to what is good rather than evil, is rooted in God's truth and righteousness (moral goodness).
Jesus tells us to love God first in order to get the meaning of true love which we have to show to others in return. However, if we don't love our neighbors, our love for God is in vain because we show that we love God if only we love one another and when we live in love God lives in us because God Himself is love and only dwells where love is. So, brethren, Let's love our brethren which is the only sure way to prove that we love God.
God's love to us is exceeding everything and does anything for us as we see in the first reading where God through Ezekiel bring life to the dry bones. As human beings, there are certain things we cannot attain for ourselves. Salvation is more of what God will give us through his love than what we can attain for ourselves. Our life, death and salvation are all God’s gifts. Therefore, when life’s experiences drag us to the depths of despair or even to the grave and become mere bones, God is capable of lifting us from there and restoring us back to life. Just as sin is described as a consequence of our hardness of heart, God promises to revive us by giving us a new heart that is capable of obedience and genuine love for God. In gratitude to God’s immeasurable love for us, we ought to pray that God may purify our heart and that he brings us to love him as he deserves.
Reflect today on your love for God and neighbor. With which type of love do you love your fellows; love like the one of Jesus or love with strings attached or love for selfish gains? Reflecting on these questions and on the greatest commandment with the aid of the Holy Spirit will make you know how God loves you and how we should love him and our neighbours.
Let us Pray
Lord, you are love and you dwell where love is, help us always to live in love so that you will always be in our midst. Amen
Be blessed.
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