In the later part of the 7th century, there was a very holy monk and Doctor of the Church by the name of St. Bede, the Venerable. And, while meditating upon this same Gospel we have today, in his own homily, he said the following: “Perfect love is that by which we are ordered to love the Lord with our whole heart, our whole soul and our whole strength, and our neighbor as ourselves. Neither of these [two kinds of] love, he says, is capable of being perfect without the other, because God cannot be loved apart from our neighbor, nor our neighbor apart from God.”
For, while God is both the source and end of our love, it is from our neighbor that we learn His love, from our parents, from our teachers, our Catechists, priests and nuns and it is our neighbor who demonstrates to us one of God’s greatest attributes, that of compassion and mercy.
In fact, we need only look to these past couple of days to see this to be true, for so many were willing to share what they had, be it their food, their water, their heat, their fuel, whatever they could provide with whatever they had to those who still had less.
We learned and we saw and continue to see what it means to truly love our neighbor and to love them in the way that God asks us to love them. In fact, while many were without power, the one thing they did seem to have to access to, was facebook, and more than once what was said was simple, they were thankful for what they had, for the family that was around them and for the little things they realized they had taken for granted.
In fact, one person put it well, he said: “So grateful for my amazing family, friends and my incredible lady... 3 weeks to go to Thanksgiving, but I already feel like I have so much to be thankful for.”
Yet, that is the simple reminder in our Gospel today, that true love of God and neighbor doesn’t come from all the things we have, how much we accrue in our lives, rather, it comes from being content and joyful in those little things that we already should be grateful and thankful for. In fact, that is what the scribe in our Gospel said, to love God and our neighbor as ourselves is “worth more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices”
That is why St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Franciscan Friar who was arrested, brought to a Nazi camp and took the place of one chosen to die, puts it well, he says: “Genuine love rises above creatures and soars up to God. In him, by him and through him, it loves all men, both good and wicked, friends and enemies.”
And that, indeed, is the point, true love, perfect love of God, is found in Him, with Him and through Him, and it is how, as strange as it sounds, we love Him so completely, because He not only loves us but shows us how to love. And, by doing so, we are able to love our neighbor, whomever that may be, whether friend, family or foe.
This is why it is these that are the greatest commandments and why Jesus Himself summarized 10 into 2, because, in the end, as St. Bede reminds: “God cannot be loved apart from our neighbor, nor our neighbor apart from God.”
For, while God is both the source and end of our love, it is from our neighbor that we learn His love, from our parents, from our teachers, our Catechists, priests and nuns and it is our neighbor who demonstrates to us one of God’s greatest attributes, that of compassion and mercy.
In fact, we need only look to these past couple of days to see this to be true, for so many were willing to share what they had, be it their food, their water, their heat, their fuel, whatever they could provide with whatever they had to those who still had less.
We learned and we saw and continue to see what it means to truly love our neighbor and to love them in the way that God asks us to love them. In fact, while many were without power, the one thing they did seem to have to access to, was facebook, and more than once what was said was simple, they were thankful for what they had, for the family that was around them and for the little things they realized they had taken for granted.
In fact, one person put it well, he said: “So grateful for my amazing family, friends and my incredible lady... 3 weeks to go to Thanksgiving, but I already feel like I have so much to be thankful for.”
Yet, that is the simple reminder in our Gospel today, that true love of God and neighbor doesn’t come from all the things we have, how much we accrue in our lives, rather, it comes from being content and joyful in those little things that we already should be grateful and thankful for. In fact, that is what the scribe in our Gospel said, to love God and our neighbor as ourselves is “worth more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices”
That is why St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Franciscan Friar who was arrested, brought to a Nazi camp and took the place of one chosen to die, puts it well, he says: “Genuine love rises above creatures and soars up to God. In him, by him and through him, it loves all men, both good and wicked, friends and enemies.”
And that, indeed, is the point, true love, perfect love of God, is found in Him, with Him and through Him, and it is how, as strange as it sounds, we love Him so completely, because He not only loves us but shows us how to love. And, by doing so, we are able to love our neighbor, whomever that may be, whether friend, family or foe.
This is why it is these that are the greatest commandments and why Jesus Himself summarized 10 into 2, because, in the end, as St. Bede reminds: “God cannot be loved apart from our neighbor, nor our neighbor apart from God.”
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