Who must I love? (A morning meditation)

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Reading: 1 John 4:19 – 5:4

Beloved, we love God because
he first loved us. 
If anyone says, “I love God,”
but hates his brother, he is a liar;
for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen 
cannot love God whom he has not seen. 
This is the commandment we have from him:
Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten by God,
and everyone who loves the Father
loves also the one begotten by him. 
In this way we know that we love the children of God
when we love God and obey his commandments. 
For the love of God is this,
that we keep his commandments.
And his commandments are not burdensome,
for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world. 
And the victory that conquers the world is our faith.

The word of the Lord.

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“Whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen,” John says in our first reading.

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It seems like a simple idea: love your God by loving your neighbor.

What makes this commandment difficult, however, is defining who our neighbor is.

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I’ve always been drawn to the Missionaries of Charity, a religious order founded by Mother Teresa. 

They’ve inspired millions around the world because of who they consider their neighbor to be:

The addict. The homeless. The hungry. The infected. The poorest of the poor. 

In a word, the loser.

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This is what Jesus asks of us, to see his face behind every person, especially those who are down on their luck, or who struggle to love themselves. 

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Who is someone I struggle to love? Or, how can I expand my view of my neighbor?

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With God’s grace, may we see them in a different light today. 

“For whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

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