In today’s Gospel one of the Pharisees, “an expert of the law” ventured to test Jesus as to which was the most important law. The Jews were governed by the Mosaic Law which comprised the Ten Commandments and more than 600 auxiliary and additional rules for living. It was more in the Pharisees’ interest to defeat Jesus rather than to learn the truth. Jesus replied from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 – Love God and love neighbour – These 2 laws, which summed up the Law and the Prophets were the test that the people should use to measure how well they were following the Lord, without love, their adherence to the law could not bring them life. It provides an essential and important lesson about love – the need to show mercy to those in need.
God is the source of love and it was He who initiated His redemptive plan for us. God proves His love for us while we were still sinners by sending Christ who died for us. St. Paul says that our ability to love God is a response to his having love us first, “we love because he first loved us (1 Jn 4:19) We are all beloved of the Father.
In the Gospel, the second Commandment quoted by Jesus was “Love your neighbour as yourself”. Jesus was asked by the teacher of the law “Who is my neighbour?” in the story of the Good Samaritan. For the Jews, their neighbour were members of Israel, their own people dignified by sharing the same religion. In fact this familial relationship came from “blood and flesh”. As for us, who then is our neighbour? Our community, our friends, our clan or our relatives. But for Jesus true love leads one to give up on discrimination. Jesus himself did not discriminate in his offer of healing and restoration. Like the farmer who sowed his seeds on all types of soil, he wants us to do the same. In fact his message is all embracing and covers all relationship as well as the call to love the wider world particularly where the needs are great.
It is significant that Jesus concludes his story by questioning the teacher “Which of the three made himself a neighbour.” It is as if he said do not try to figure out who is my neighbour, listen rather to the call within you and become a neighbour, be close to your brother or sister in need. As long as we see the command to love as an obligation, we are not loving as God wants. Love does not simply consist in being moved by another’s distress. Emotion is not commanded but action is commanded by Jesus. For every human being is a child of God. He or she bears the image of Christ. We ourselves need to see and then enable others to see that they do not only represent a problem to be solved but are brothers and sisters to be welcomed, respected and loved. To love neighboru as ourselves is a conscious choice and we are called to act upon it.
Gerard & Lawren