“Love God and Love Your Neighbor”
My dear friends,
This Sunday, Jesus answers the deepest question any person can ask: “Which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He says: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). Then He adds something unexpected: “The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:39-40).
Notice, Jesus does not give us ten answers. He gives us two hooks. Every rule in Scripture hangs on these two and they are inseparable from each other.
What Love Really Means
Many of us might think love is a feeling, something warm and fuzzy in our heart. But this is not what Jesus means. Look at Exodus: “If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people, you shall not act like an extortioner toward him by demanding interest from him. If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before sunset; for it is his only covering” (Exodus 22:25-27).
Love is concrete, in action. It means you return the cloak. You do not cheat the poor man. You do not demand interest from someone who is struggling. You think of the other person’s suffering, not your own profit.
The Catechism teaches us: “The love of neighbor is inseparable from the love of God” (CCC 2196). St. John Paul II said it powerfully: “Only those who are involved with their neighbor and his needs concretely show their love for Jesus. Being closed and indifferent to the ‘other’ means being closed to the Holy Spirit, forgetting Christ, and denying the Father’s universal love” (General Audience, October 20, 1999).
We cannot love God on Sunday at Mass and then live our own way the rest of the week. We cannot love God while ignoring someone in need. When we turn away from a suffering person, we turn away from Christ Himself.
For This Week
Let us do one small, concrete thing with real love.
Let us help someone.
Let us stand up for someone being treated badly.
Let us return to prayer if you have drifted away.
Bring someone a meal.
Shovel their snow in winter.
Listen to someone who feels alone.
Pay back what you owe.
These are not big, dramatic gestures.
They are the simple acts that show God’s love is alive in us.
Let’s reflect:
- Am I grateful for God’s love that always precedes me, even before I deserve it?
- Who is one person I can show concrete love to this week, someone difficult, or someone I have been ignoring?
- When I say “I love you, Lord,” am I truly willing to back it up with actions toward the people God has placed around me?