Love of God and Love of Neighbor

When asked the question, sisters and brothers, what is the great commandment? Jesus tells us it is this. It's the twofold commandment: you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself.

It’s the center of both of those—love, to will the good of the other.

It is the nature of our Christian calling, the nature of the great commandment, that we're called to love God. But when we love God, we're called as well to love those God loves. And so we know God's love for each human person and for all of creation.

So we're called, in fact, to be lovers of creation and lovers of our brothers and sisters.

When we do that, we recognize that we're called to love in good times, as we do with our spouses and friends. But we're also called to recognize the need for love where there's brokenness in our world.

Whether it's addiction, whether it's poverty, whether it's homelessness, whether it's war,

Whether it is dealing with difficult circumstances of crime.

In lots of ways in our world, we know that sin is still present in our world and that people are affected by sin and people are indeed sinners, humans all. The call of the gospel—we hear it in John's Gospel—Jesus says,

"I will not lose anyone or anything that the Father gave me." And so the call of love is the call to be compassionate.

Part of the Christian moral journey is to integrate compassion as a way in which we think, and the way in which we live.

In doing so, we imitate the way Christ lived: caring and noticing the blind person, noticing the lame, noticing the sinful woman, noticing the woman alone at a well, and noticing those who are in situations in which compassion is called for.

And so, sisters and brothers, as we reflect on the call to follow Christ, to follow the Great Commandment, let us remember to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, and our neighbors as well, because of that love of God—and to do so in the most compassionate way possible. Doing so, we indeed will be renewed.

Reflection Questions:

1. In what ways am I actively loving God with all my heart, soul, and strength each day?
   
   

2. How can I better show love and compassion to those in my community who are suffering or marginalized?
   
   

3. What specific situations in my life call for a deeper, Christ-like compassion right now?