Love of Neighbor

Today’s Gospel Text: And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?" 29 Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' 31 The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." 32 And the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that he is one, and there is no other but he; 33 and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And after that no one dared to ask him any question. Mark 12:28-34

Reflection: Love is the greatest commandment of all and I am sure no one will doubt that.

There are times I have often been in serious discussion and they have been individuals who have rendered the whole discussion flat by just one statement: “In the end what is important is that we love”

As if asserting that the horizontal commandment is the most important, they think that if we love one another is enough to enter into heaven. And what they say is even broadened to include the love of anyone and everyone.But in the end love no one.

In all these false assertions, the love that one practices is the love that seeks to please and compromise on the truth of God and sound doctrine.  Thus one even has to act crooked with all types of lies in order to present oneself as loving, gentle and kind.

There have been times, when I have heard experts in New Testament quoting St. Paul’s famous words on love, as if the horizontal dimension is the only important:element: “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.”  Rom 13:8

What one fails to learn is that St. Paul's assertions is to a community that is born out of love for God and he is preaching to a community on the aspects of brotherly love.

Then there have been some who have quoted from St John’s letter: “If any one says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” 1 John 4:20

Here St. John in his letter is shocked about a community that is supposed to be loving God and yet not loving him enough by loving his commandment of loving one another. He sums it up well in the statement below:

“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.” 1 John 5:2

Hence what Jesus asserts in the gospel about loving God is prime and important. 

Prayer:  Lord, I pray that I may love thee above everything and thus be an instrument of loving my neighbor too.

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