You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22)
Where to start? How about from the beginning? Creation is an ever-changing canvas of God’s artistic genius. Yet, it is much more than a canvas since everything in creation is alive, moving, in harmony with everything else. Have you ever looked at the same scene and found it to look exactly the same? Even from moment to moment, the clouds are moving, the light is changing, the breeze blows slightly; birds are flying, people enter and depart from scene.
We believe that the human person is the culmination of God’s creative genius since each person bears the image and likeness of God, the dignity of the divine within us. This divine imprint is what not only allows us but impels us to live in harmony with God and all of creation. This explains why there is a natural moral code within each of us which we call conscience.
Why is it that some people seem more capable of acknowledging God and living according to God’s law and love? Sociologists pose the question: is it a matter of nature or nurture. Do I believe in God because this is how I was raised (nurture) or because the reality of God exists within my DNA and is evident throughout all of creation? Such a question of nature or nurture is misleading. Life in relationship with God is a matter of both. The element of the divine that is in every human person is a part of our nature, and because of that it requires nurturing. Thus, God in his wisdom commands us to love him in return.
The psalmist said it best: “Like the deer that longs for running streams, so my soul longs for you, my God.” (Psalm 42) Not unlike any other creature, we have no trouble identifying when we are thirsty. But are we equally capable of recognizing the deep longing of our heart for God? We are so immersed in the world that we can become solely focused on worldly realities. Jesus cautioned against this and taught that it is more important to grow rich in what matters to God. (Luke 12:13-21)
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” In other words, wisdom recognizes we are created by God and for God. A well-lived life is lived with and for God. Because we live in the world, this love indeed requires all our heart, soul, mind and strength!
As I have shared with you before, I was blessed to be raised in a loving family. Both my father’s and mother’s family were Catholic. I grew up knowing my grandparents and even one great-grandmother, listening to their stories and witnessing their faith. We prayed together in church and in our homes. I learned from them and many other members of the parish faith-family what it meant to love God with all one’s heart in day-to-day life. These were the people that taught me that love of God is expressed not just individually but expands to the second of the great commandments to love your neighbor as yourself.
I can say definitively I have never had a crisis of faith – a moment where I questioned the existence of God. I can also say that my life has been one experience after another learning it indeed takes every ounce of strength and will within me to love God in return. Part of why God commands us to love him with all our mind, soul and strength is because he knows the cost of giving us free will. God knows how inclined we are to selfishly love only self and to gain the whole world for self. God also knows that to love without this freedom is not to love at all.
Falling in love with God or another person is not the primary concern. Putting that love into action is the challenge. I always think of the song from the movie My Fair Lady where Eliza Doolittle boils over at the mere expressions of love – only words – and demands action, concrete proof and meaningful demonstration of love. “Don’t speak of love – show me”.
At its core, action is the definitive proof of love because it translates an invisible, internal feeling into a visible, external reality. While words cost nothing and can be spoken without sacrifice, actions require our most valuable and finite resources: our time, energy, attention, and vulnerability. The human story of why action matters so deeply boils down to how we are wired to experience safety, trust, and connection. It also boils down to how God created us for love.
This is a part of being created in the image and likeness of God. The reality of God is love. The Triune God is a communion of love between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This love does not remain within God but is generative and always creative, moving outward. Thus, our own reality to reach fulfillment must learn to move beyond self towards God and others. This is the human vocation – to love. As God has made a gift of self to us through his Son, Jesus Christ, the human experience reaches its highest self in receiving this precious gift and similarly making the same selfless gift to others. Our highest calling is putting love into action.
So, let’s put this now into the context of today. We are just days away from mid-term elections. Pope Leo speaks often of the importance to create a civilization of love. He realistically says: “The civilization of love will not arise from a single or spectacular gesture, but from the sum total of small and steadfast acts of fidelity that serve as a bulwark against dehumanization”. (MH #213)
My friends, Jesus’ teaching to love God with all our hearts and our neighbor as our self must be put into practical action. Our relationship with God is what must inform everything else. The consequence of love that naturally flows from this relationship is to guide every other relationship in this life. It is past time to move from a political posture that only knows how to condemn anyone and everyone who disagrees with us to a practice, actions that promote positive changes that serve the human family and the common good of all.
The Holy Father goes on to say: “The Gospel cannot ignore people’s concrete daily lives.” … “Rather than naïve optimism or cynical resignation, Christians and all people of goodwill are called to exercise moral discernment, reject the inevitability of conflict … and ground hope in concrete choices for the common good”.
Let us take Jesus’ teaching to heart – let us love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind and our neighbor as self. Together we can and must build a civilization of love.
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