Friday of week 20 in Ordinary Time
Saint Rose of Lima, Virgin
Gospel – Matthew 22:34-40
Jesus 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. You must love. How can love becomes a commandment? Can you command someone to love? Pope Benedict XVI in his encyclical Deus Caritas Est describes it well. The “commandment’ of love is only possible because it is more than a requirement. Love can be “commanded” because it has first been given. This means that God’s prior love for humanity makes it possible for humans to love in return. Our ability to love God and others is rooted in God’s initial gift of love to us. Love can be “commanded” because it has first been given. Our love for God and neighbor flows from having first received God’s love. It’s not primarily about following rules but responding to a gift. Christian love goes beyond mere human effort or ethical imperatives. It flows from God’s grace and enables us to love in return. Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction. In this encounter, the encounter with the person of Christ, a response becomes imperative as a return of His love for us. Let’s reflect: Do I see my faith as an encounter with the person of Christ?
Don Giorgio