Love Commanded
Jesus came not to abolish the Old Testament law but to fulfill it (see Matthew 5:17).
And in this Sunday’s Gospel, He reveals that love—of God and of neighbor—is the fulfillment of the whole of the law (see Romans 13:8-10).
Devout Israelites were to keep all 613 commands found in the Bible’s first five books. Jesus says that all these, and all the teachings of the prophets, can be summarized by two verses of this law (see Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18).
He seems to summarize the two stone tablets on which God was said to have engraved the ten commandments (see Exodus 32:15-16). The first tablet set out three laws concerning the love of God—such as the command not to take His name in vain; the second contained seven commands regarding love of neighbor, such as those against stealing and adultery. Love is the hinge that binds the two tablets of the law. For we can’t love God, whom we can’t see, if we don’t love our neighbor, whom we can (see 1 John 4:20-22).
But this love we are called to is far more than simple affection or warm sentiment. We must give ourselves totally to God—loving with our whole beings, with all our heart, soul and mind. Our love for our neighbor must express itself in concrete actions, such as those set out in Sunday’s First Reading.
We love because He first loved us (see 1 John 4:19). As we sing in Sunday’s Psalm, He has been our deliverer, our strength when we could not possibly defend ourselves against the enemies of sin and death.
We love in thanksgiving for our salvation. And in this become imitators of Jesus, as Paul tells us in Sunday’s Epistle—laying down our lives daily in ways large and small, seen and unseen; our lives offered as a continual sacrifice of praise (see John 15:12-13; Hebrews 13:15).
Saint Anselm (1033-1109)
Letter 112, to Hugh the Hermit
Since to reign in heaven is nothing other than to cleave to God and all the saints through love according to a single will such that all together express one and the same power, love God more than yourself and you will already begin to take hold of what you desire to possess perfectly in heaven.
Make your peace with both God and men – at least, unless these latter separate themselves from God – and you will already begin to reign together with God and the saints. Because, to the extent that you bring yourself into harmony with the will of both God and men, God and the saints will be in harmony with your will. And so, if you wish to become a king in heaven, love God and men as you ought and you will be worthy of becoming what you desire.
However, you won’t be able to possess this love perfectly until you empty your heart of every other love… Indeed, that is why those who fill their hearts with love for God and neighbor have no other will but that of God – or of some other man provided it is not contrary to God.
That is why they are faithful to prayer as also to conversing about and keeping heaven in mind. For it is their happiness to desire God and speak of him whom they love, to hear him spoken about and to bear him in mind.
This, too, is why they rejoice with those who are joyful, weep with those in sorrow (Rom 12,15), they have compassion for the unfortunate and give to the poor, for they love others as themselves… Yes, it is truly in this way that “the whole Law and the prophets depend on these two commandments” of love.
Saint Robert Bellarmine
The Ascent of the Mind of God
1 O Lord, what is it that you require of your servants? “Take my yoke upon you”, you say. And what sort of yoke is this? “My yoke is easy and my burden light.” Now who would not willingly bear a yoke that does not press down but gives strength; a burden that does not weigh heavily but refreshes? As you rightly added: “And you will find rest” (Mt 11,29).
And what is this yoke of yours that does not tire but gives rest? It is the first and greatest of the commandments: “You shall love the Lord your God will all your heart.” What could be easier, better or more agreeable than to love the goodness, beauty and love that is most perfectly yours, O Lord my God?
Do you not offer a reward to those who keep the commandments, which are “more desirable than a heap of gold and sweeter than honey from the comb”? (Ps 19[18],11) So in every way you offer a very ample reward, as James the apostle says: “The Lord has prepared the crown of life for those who love him” (1,12)… And Paul quotes these words from Isaiah: “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1Cor 2,9).
That first and great commandment is not only profitable for the man who keeps it or for God who commands it: the other commandments of God also make perfect him who obeys them, improve him, instruct him and make him illustrious; in a word, they make him good and holy. If you understand this, realize that you have been created for the glory of God and for your own eternal salvation; this is your end, this is the object of your soul and the treasure of your heart. You will be blessed if you reach this goal, but miserable if you are cut off from it.
Pope Benedict XVI
Homily, Conclusion of the 12th Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, October 26, 2008
The Word of the Lord, resounding a short while ago in the Gospel, reminded us that the whole divine law is summarized in love. The Evangelist Matthew narrates that after Jesus had answered the Sadducees, silencing them, the Pharisees met to put him to the test (cf. 22: 34-35). One of them, a doctor of law, asked him: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?” (22: 36).
The question makes apparent the concern, present in ancient Jewish tradition, over finding a unifying principle in the various formulations of God’s will. This was not an easy question, considering that in the law of Moses, a good 613 precepts and prohibitions are contemplated. How does one discern, among all of these, which is the most important? But Jesus does not hesitate, and readily responds: “You shall love the Lord your God with your all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment” (22: 37-38).
Jesus quotes the Shemà in his answer, the prayer the pious Israelite recites several times a day, especially in the morning and in the evening (cf. Dt 6: 4-9; 11: 13-21; Nm 15: 37-41): the proclamation of the integral and total love due to God, as the only Lord. Emphasis is placed on the totality of this dedication to God, listing the three faculties that define man in his deep psychological structures: heart, soul and mind. The word mind, diánoia, contains the rational element. God is not only the object of love, commitment, will and sentiment, but also of the intellect, which should not be excluded from this milieu.
Then, however, Jesus adds something which, in truth, had not been asked by the doctor of law: “And a second is like it, You must love your neighbour as yourself” (22: 39). The surprising aspect of Jesus’ answer consists in the fact that he establishes a similarity between the first and the second commandments, defined this time too with a biblical formula drawn from the Levitical code of holiness (cf. Lv 19: 18). And thus by the end of the passage the two commandments become connected in the role of a fundamental union upon which all of biblical Revelation rests: “On these two commandments the whole law is based, and the prophets as well” (Mt 22: 40).
The Gospel passage on which we are focusing makes clear that being disciples of Christ means practicing his teachings, which can be summarized in the first and greatest commandment of the divine law, the commandment of love. Even the First Reading, taken from the Book of Exodus, insists on the duty of love; a love witnessed concretely in relationships between persons, which must be relationships of respect, collaboration, generous help. The neighbour to be loved is the stranger, the orphan, the widow and the needy, in other words, those citizens who have no “defender”. The holy author goes into details, as in the case of the object pawned by one of these poor persons (cf. Ex 22: 25-26). In this case God himself is the one to vouch for the neighbour’s position.
In the Second Reading, we can find a concrete application of the supreme commandment of love in one of the first Christian communities. St Paul writes to the Thessalonians, leading them to understand that, while having known them for such a short time, he appreciates them and holds them dear in his heart. Because of this, he pinpoints them as “a model for all the believers of Macedonia and Achaia” (1 Thes 1: 7). Weaknesses and difficulties are not lacking in this recently founded community, but it is love that surpasses all, renews all, conquers all: the love of those who, knowing their own limits, docilely follow the words of Christ, the divine Teacher, passed down through one of his faithful disciples.
“You, in turn, became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word despite great trials, with the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit”, the Apostle wrote. He continued: “For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere” (1 Thes 1: 6, 8).
The lesson that we can draw from the Thessalonians’ experience, an experience that is truly common in every authentic Christian community, is that neighbourly love is born from docile listening to the divine Word. It is a love that will even withstand difficult trials for the truth of the divine Word, and in this way true love grows and truth shines in all its splendour. How important it is to listen to the Word and incarnate it in personal and community life! …
The Readings today’s liturgy offers for our meditation remind us that the fulness of the law, as all of the divine Scriptures, is love. Therefore anyone who believes they have understood the Scriptures, or at least some part of them, without undertaking to build, by means of their intelligence, the twofold love of God and neighbour, in reality proves to be still a long way from having grasped its deeper meaning. But how can we put this commandment into practice, how can we live the love of God and our brothers without a living and intense contact with the Sacred Scriptures?
Pope Benedict XVI
Homily, October 23, 2011
The Word of the Lord, which was proclaimed just a moment ago in the Gospel Reading, reminds us that the whole of the Divine Law can be summed up in love. The Evangelist Matthew recounts that the Pharisees, after Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, met to put him to the test (cf. 22:34-35). One of these interlocutors, a doctor of law, asked him: “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” (v. 36).
Jesus answered the deliberately tricky question, saying quite simply: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment” (vv. 37-38). In fact, the main requirement for each one of us is that God be present in our lives. He should, as the Scripture says, penetrate all levels of our being and fill them completely. The heart should know him and let itself be touched by him, and thus also the soul, the energies of our will and determination, as well as intelligence and thought. One could say, as St Paul did, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20).
Jesus immediately adds something that the doctor of law did not actually ask: “And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Mt 22:39). By declaring that the second commandment is similar to the first, Jesus implies that loving your neighbour is as important as loving God. In fact, a visible sign that the Christian can show the world in order to witness to God’s love is love for our brothers and sisters.
How providential it is that precisely today the Church holds up to her members three new Saints, who allowed themselves to be transformed by the divine love, that imbued their entire existence. Through various situations and with different charisms, they loved the Lord with all their heart and loved their neighbour as themselves: thus becoming “an example to all the believers” (1 Thess 1:7).
