Exodus 22:20-26 / 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10 / Matthew 22:34-40
When we think about life, we may wonder what are the most basic truths about life.
Christianity teaches us this truth about life, and that is we are created by God.
With that, the purpose of life is to know God and to love Him and to serve Him.
When we truly understand this, then we will be happy.
And the expression for happiness in life will be like this:
We will expect nothing and appreciate everything.
We will speak beautiful things.
We will believe that things will work out and there is no need to be too anxious.
We will smile and help others to smile.
We will keep life simple and sweet.
We may be imperfect, but we are not missing anything either.
These are the simple truths of life that express our happiness.
But the simple things of life can become complicated when we expect too much.
In the Gospel, the Pharisees got together and to disconcert Jesus, they asked him, “Master, what is the greatest commandment of the Law?”
In the traditional Jewish teaching at that time, there were a total of 613 commandments for the precepts, the laws, and the prohibitions found in the Torah, which is the first five books of the Jewish scriptures.
The first reading has some of these commandments.
The Pharisees wanted to disconcert and to unsettle Jesus by asking Him which of the 613 commandments was the most important.
And whichever one Jesus chose, they will then question Him further and try to catch Him on what He said to trap Him.
But instead of picking one, Jesus summarized the 613 commandments into the following.
He said, “You must 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 resembles it. You must love your neighbor as Yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets also.”
That is as most fundamental as it can get, love God and love neighbor.
Using a tree as an imagery, the love of God is the roots, and the love of neighbor is the fruits.
Love of God is expressed in adoration and reverence, while love of neighbor is expressed in respect and compassion.
There is this story of a journalist who once spent a week following Saint Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) around the slums of Kolkata.
He watched her endlessly bandage infected wounds, bathe dying men, and comfort desperate mothers under intense heat.
Amazed, the journalist asked, "Mother Teresa, how do you keep doing this day after day without burning out?"
Mother Teresa took him by the hand and led him into the convent chapel. She pointed to the monstrance on the altar and then out the window toward the slums, saying:
"Every morning, we spend an hour in Adoration looking at the Host. In the Host, under the appearance of bread, we see Jesus. Then we walk out these doors, and under the distressing disguise of the poor, we see the exact same Jesus."
That is love and compassion in action.
Another story is that on a cold evening, a priest noticed a homeless man sitting outside the church steps every morning, shivering in a thin jacket.
Rather than simply giving him food and money, the priest went into his own closet, pulled out a winter coat, and walked outside. Instead of throwing it at him, the priest sat down on the cold concrete beside the man, handed him the coat, and stayed to talk with him for twenty minutes, learning his name—which is Joseph—and his sad story.
Years later, after getting off the streets and finding employment, Joseph returned to the parish.
He handed the pastor a donation and said, "It wasn't just that you gave me a coat to keep warm that morning. It was that you sat beside me on the concrete and treated me like a human being. Your coat kept my body warm, but your respect saved my soul."
True Christian charity is never just about transactions; it is about recognizing the dignity of every person as a child of God.
We have come into the house of God, and in the House of prayer, we are drawn closer to God to be deeply rooted in Him.
After Mass, we go forth as the People of God to bear fruits of love for our neighbor.
So, life is essentially, fundamentally, and simply about knowing that God loves us and we are called to love Him in return.
And that response to God's love is in loving our neighbour.
On these two commandments are the source of our meaning and direction in life, as well as our happiness and our eternal destiny.