The two commandments Jesus spoke of today are the key, the spirit and the core of all commandments and laws.
And they are enabled by love.
There are two things we must remember when we hear these words proclaimed.
First and foremost, we must understand that God is love. God wills the best for others and the Trinity of persons that make up God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit are love and seek the best for us.
And we are called to do the same.
But we often get confused on what love really means. Love is not a feeling or emotion as portrayed by the secular world or movies. Something that can ebb and wane.
Love that Jesus speaks of is an intention to always put God first and do his will and to always seek the best for others.
It is closer to discipline and maturity and commitment than a feeling.
It is the same with our other relationships too. A couple that relies only on feelings to develop a lifelong marriage will fail, for feelings can be inconsistent.
But here is the interesting thing about love as Jesus meant it.
The more we commit to loving intentionally and being disciplined about our relationship with God and others the stronger it becomes … and as married people know after decades of intentionally desiring the best for the other … feelings change and become engrained in our nature and they grow. We can wake up after 30 years of faithful marriage having intense joy at being married to the spouse.
It is the same with our relationship with God. If our intentions focus on putting him first and following Jesus, the longer we do this the more joy and peace fill our life no matter how difficult or easy. For he is with us and gives us natural hearts so can see others as Christ sees them and we recognize the blessings and love God has for us.
He loves us first. He sacrificed for us first. Why would we not sacrifice anything that stands in our way of building a lifelong and deeper relationship with the God of love?
Gospel
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together, and one of them,
a scholar of the law tested him by asking,
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him,
“You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
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