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Gospel: Matthew 22: 23-40
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together, and one of them,
a scholar of the law tested him by asking,
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him,
“You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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While walking the streets of Calcutta, India, Mother Teresa noticed a homeless man lying on the street, so ill that death was imminent.
The ragged remnants of his clothing reeked of sour sweat caused by the hot, balmy air. Critters were nibbling at his arms and feet as people passed by him.
Given the scale of poverty in that city, people might’ve been desensitized to the man’s suffering. Maybe they felt helpless.
As she neared him, Mother Teresa became repulsed by the stench as it filled her lungs. Slowly, she found herself moving to the other side of the street like everyone else.
But within a matter of seconds, her heart was seized with compassion and regret. Turning back and looking at him, she remembered Christ’s sacred words, “Whatever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, you do to me.”
Suddenly, she saw two people lying on that hot, filthy street. An anonymous human being nearing his end, and Jesus Christ in distressing disguise, hidden beneath those rags.
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Kneeling down next to him, Mother Teresa slid her arms underneath the man’s body. He was so emaciated that she, a woman not even five feet tall, was able to pick him up and carry him to her home for the dying, just a block away.
As they arrived, the poor man looked into Mother Teresa’s eyes and breathed his last.
Although he might’ve been unwanted and abandoned by society, he died in the arms of love.
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What is love? How would you define it?
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Is it merely an emotion? Is it something we feel, like butterflies in our stomach? Is it an action? Saying “I do” at the altar? Is it putting the needs of another person first? Is it as simple as showing up and cheering for your child at their soccer game?
Love is all of these things… and more. Ultimately, it’s the fulfillment of all religion.
Taking what might be an abstract concept, Saint Paul boils love down to two simple things, “Love is patient; love is kind.”
Think about what that looks like concretely.
Love is the patience that elderly spouses show to each other as their bodies slow and ache with age.
Love is a mom or dad moving deliberately at their child’s pace, allowing their child the space to grow, to change, and to question without pressure.
Love is paying attention; listening to the other side; responding thoughtfully to challenges, instead of reacting impulsively.
Love is saying, “I’m sorry.”
Love is showing up on time; being patient on the road; celebrating another person’s success; offering a word of affirmation; calling your parents; smiling at a stranger; sending a thank you note; holding the door open; visiting the sick; and forgiving wrongdoing.
Love is a thousand little acts of patience and kindness extended towards our neighbor. When added up, it satisfies one of the two great commandments of religion.
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Today, many people believe that’s enough. Often, I hear parents say, “All I want to do is to raise my child to be a good person.” While that is a good intention, it is not quite enough. Our mission as Christians is even more challenging.
In today’s Gospel, the Lord commands us, not only to love our neighbor as ourselves, but also to love God with all of our mind, heart, and soul. While these two commandments are intertwined, they are also distinct.
Love of God begins with acknowledging Him as the source of all life; accepting that everything and everyone belongs to him.
It means praising God in times of joy; seeking his consolation in times of sorrow; spending time with him in silence; persevering through the dryness of prayer; and worshiping him as a community of faith on Sundays.
It means choosing Him over lesser loves; speaking out; standing up; studying his Word; allowing that Word to guide our conscience and shape our daily decisions; and sharing that Word with others.
It means giving until it hurts; building smaller, not bigger barns; recognizing our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit; seeing beyond the brevity of this life, and living accordingly.
It means surrender; acceptance; praise; mercy; hope; serial forgiveness; and allowing his divine love to be poured into our hearts so that we become, in the words of Mother Teresa: “A pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.”
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This is what separated Mother Teresa from every other person who passed by that man dying on the street. She was neither the strongest, nor the tallest, nor the most educated, nor the most successful.
But she was the one filled with the greatest amount of love, because she not only acknowledged that man’s existence, she also recognized the One who created him. Then, like the Good Samaritan, she turned around and cared for him.
What does it look like for us to do the same? To not only love our neighbor, but also to praise the God who created us?
Such love satisfies all of religion.
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Image credits: (1) God and Neighbor, WordPress (2) Mother Teresa Charitable Trust (3) Heaven on Wheels