Why did Jesus provide two commandments when one was asked for? What would have happened if Jesus had just given the greatest commandment – the first? Then the focus of our lives would be upon ourselves: it’s all about what I need to do in my relationship with God. The second expands it, so that we truly understand what that relationship is about.
Love of neighbor is absolutely necessary in the pursuit of a relationship with God. Look at your neighbor and realize that God made them, too. They are just as extraordinary in God’s act of creation as you are. And they are on the same journey. The two commandments fill out what it means to love; they complete what would otherwise be an incomplete concept. That’s why Jesus gives two when one is asked for. But then he summarizes all the law in those two, because if your love for God is expressed in your love for neighbor, the rest of the law would be superfluous, unnecessary.
God offers us the fullness of life… in the neighbors around us, those who are in need and who are right here. He gives us life all the time; we have but to choose it.
--Fr. Patrick Michaels,
Homily, August 23, 2024
Image source: https://cmmb.org/to-love-god-to-love-your-neighbor/
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