Friday 25 August 2023
St Louis IX; St Joseph Calasanz | Day of penance
Ruth 1:1, 3-6, 14-16, 22. Praise the Lord, my soul! – Psalm 145(146):5-10. Matthew 22:34-40.
Love your God with all your heart, and your neighbour as yourself
Jesus distils the Ten Commandments to an unforgettable two. The first is the bedrock of the second. To love God with every ounce of our being, our very soul. This creates an image of being simply diffused with love. To love God is to allow God’s love for us. A love which we breath in and emanate out. This all-encompassing, enduring love is the template for the second commandment: to love our neighbour as we love ourselves. Our neighbour, who we might struggle to understand or tolerate – we’re called to love them in the way that we love and care about our own needs. When we’re inclined to get bogged down detail of what being Christian looks or sounds like, we might remember that this teaching is the simplest yet most profoundly difficult test. To strive to love, to be renewed in our relationship with God and others, this is surely what our world needs more than ever.
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