That day the scholar asks Jesus to pick the most important one. And Jesus does something remarkable. He takes all those commandments, all those laws, and boils them down to one word: Love.
Love God with
all your heart, soul, and mind. And love your neighbor as
yourself.
That's it. For
Jesus, it's all about love... all the time.
Jesus’ answer
that day was a bit of a surprise because Jesus doesn't simply tell us to love God. He connects loving God with loving our neighbor. He was telling them and
telling us. You can't claim to love God while refusing to love the people God
created.
Loving God can seem easy. But loving our neighbors can be a real challenge!
- Jesus doesn't say, "Love your neighbor when they're nice to you."
- He doesn't say, "Love your neighbor when they agree with you."
- He doesn't even say, “Love your neighbor when they deserve it."
·
He
simply says,"Love your neighbor as yourself."
In another
passage of scripture, Jesus takes this question even further. He tells us to
love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
Wow … really …
have you ever tried to do that?
Clearly, Jesus
isn't talking about love as a warm, fuzzy feeling, like I’m thinking.
He's talking about love … as a way of life.
- Love is being patient when someone is driving you crazy.
- Love is forgiving someone who has hurt you.
- Love is reaching out to someone who is lonely.
- Love is helping someone who can't possibly repay you.
Jesus asks us
to love the homeless guy …the immigrant … the outcast … and even the person who
is hardest for us to love.
Love isn't
always easy. In fact, sometimes love is the hardest thing Jesus asks us to do.
Love isn't one commandment among many. It's the reason behind all the
commandments. That should change how we think about our faith.
We can go to
Mass every Sunday, say our prayers, study the Bible, and still be impatient, judgmental, unforgiving, or indifferent to others' suffering. Now, don't
misunderstand me. Going to Mass, praying, studying the Bible, and following the
Church's teachings are important. They are meant to draw us closer to God and
help us become more loving people.
The Eucharist, for example, isn't simply something we receive. It's meant to transform us. We receive the love of Christ so that we can become the love of Christ in the world.
And maybe that's the real challenge of today's Gospel. It's easy to love humanity in general. It's much harder to love the specific person standing right in front of us!
- The difficult coworker.
- The demanding relative.
- The neighbor who irritates us.
- The person whose political opinions make absolutely no sense to us.
That's where
our Christianity gets tested. We don't have to agree with everyone. We don't
have to approve of everything people do. But we do have to recognize their
dignity as children of God. We have to treat them with compassion, respect, and
mercy.
Because that's
how God treats us. And thank goodness God doesn't love us only when we're lovable!
So perhaps today's Gospel invites us to examine our lives differently.
- Did I make someone's life a little better today?
- Was I patient when I wanted to be angry?
- Did I forgive when I wanted to hold a grudge?
- Did I notice someone who needed help?
- Did I love when it would have been easier not to?
Because
ultimately, Christianity is about how completely we allow God's love to
transform our hearts.
Every act of
genuine Christian love is our response to the love we've already received. So
when we leave Mass today, we don't have to look for some extraordinary
opportunity to be holy. The opportunity will probably be waiting for us in the
parking lot! … Or at home. … Or at work. … Or in the next conversation we have.
Always remember
…
Loving your
neighbor as yourself ranks right behind loving God.
