God and Neighbour

Homily for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Deacon Thomas Stephenson

October 26, 2014

Today’s Gospel is shorter than what we usually hear, but Jesus doesn’t need a longer discussion or a parable to answer the question He is asked. His response is quite clear and to the point – two commandments, love God, and love your neighbour. Notice that He doesn’t name one of the Ten Commandments, or any of the hundreds of other precepts that faithful Jews followed. He does say, however, that all the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments. Love doesn’t replace the law; the law flows from love.

We may sometimes think that there is a conflict between the law and love. And this can be true about governmental laws, which are mostly concerned with maintaining order. But there is no conflict, there can be no conflict, between God’s law - and love. God’s laws were given to us so that we may have some understanding of how to love Him and each other, and of when we are straying from that love. St. Augustine said “love, and do what you will.” If we were able to love perfectly, if we could love both God and our neighbour completely and flawlessly, we would have no need for the commandments because we would just naturally follow what they instruct us. But, we aren’t really able to love that perfectly, are we? So, being human, perhaps we need the law, we need the commandments, to help us to love better.

If we are going to claim to love God, we must love our neighbour. There is no true love of God without love of others. And our love of others cannot be an abstract notion; it can’t be something that exists in theory, but not in practise. Our love for others must be confirmed by our actions. In today’s first reading from Exodus, the Lord gives a few examples of ways that others should be treated. Some of these were particularly relevant to the people of that time, but the idea, His message, can be applied to many situations in our time. We are honoured and blessed that Padré Patricio will be with us this evening. Our support for his school in Honduras, and the children there, is one concrete example of how our behaviour demonstrates our love of God and our neighbour. We don’t all have the opportunity to travel to Honduras, or other areas where vulnerable people may need our help, but we do have the means to help them through our donations and our prayers. And we also show our love of neighbour in many ways right here, in the various ministries we are involved in, from Pastoral Care to Youth Ministry, and also in our families and the community.

Our love for others and our love for God go hand-in-hand. It is because of our love for God that we act in Christian charity, in caring, not because of our feelings, which can change; or out of a sense of personal accomplishment, which can become selfish rather than selfless, but for the love and glory of God.

Love of God must be primary in our lives, in our hearts – everything we do for others comes from that. St. Augustine also said: “The love of God is the first in the order of precepts; the love of neighbour is the first in the order of practice. For He who prescribed this love in two precepts has not recommended neighbour first and God second, but God first and neighbour second.” Again, love of God and love of neighbour go together, and by putting love of God first, love of neighbour will inevitably follow.

God must be our greatest love. Although He tells us to love our neighbour as ourselves, that is not how He tells us we should love God. Not as ourselves, but with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind. We owe to God a love beyond love of self, for without Him we would have no self. To love the Lord to that extent should be our greatest aspiration. That may not be 100% attainable in this life, but it is worth striving for. We nurture and increase that love in our prayer life, in our Mass attendance and participation in the sacraments, as well as in our charitable activities. That love grows when we are obedient to God, when we follow what He taught us. Jesus said “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” We are all sinners, will sometimes fall short of keeping His commandments. But we cannot lose sight of the goal, and when we fall, we need to get up and keep trying. And, especially as we approach the end Of October, traditionally the month of the Holy Rosary, we need to remember that God has given us Mary as an example of faith, obedience, and love. Mary guides us on our journey. The Catechism says “…the Mother of Jesus…is the image and the beginning of the Church as it is to be perfected in the world to come. Likewise, she shines forth on earth until the day of the Lord shall come, a sign of certain hope and comfort to the pilgrim people of God.”

Our love of God must be reciprocal. As we are called to love God, we also must allow Him to love us. He always does love us, but we may at times feel as though we are unworthy of His love. Have you ever heard someone say “oh, God couldn’t love someone like me”? Or mock the idea that Jesus actually does love each and every one of us, personally and individually? Now, most of us would probably never go to those extremes, and it is really sad to hear someone say that. But how many of us occasionally have small, fleeting doubts about how much we are loved by God? When that happens, we really need to dismiss those thoughts and remember that God does always love us – perhaps not our actions, but He loves us.

Loving God is not a feeling, it is a choice. It has been said that you don’t choose who you fall in love with. But there is a difference between being in love with someone, and loving someone. It is a choice to love God, it is a choice to love our neighbour. That is especially true when we choose to love those of our neighbours who may be…difficult. Even when we don’t feel like loving them. Even when we think they deserve to be punished rather than loved. If we love God, we will love them.

That is the ideal. So let us ask the Lord for the grace and strength to be able to put our love for Him above all else, and to love our neighbour as ourselves, according to Jesus’ command.