Love
Today, (Mark 12:28-34) Jesus on accosted by a young scribe, summarized the main commandments of God. The first is to love the Lord, our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength; and the second, to love our neighbour as ourself. Simple but deep and wide in its applications.
To love God is easy, because he loves us; but to love your neighbour? We must not attribute love here as physical love. It is only with the love of God that we can love others.
Jesus gave us a good example in one of his parables about a man being attacked by robbers and was left to die on the street. A number of people, including a priest, came by and walked passed him. Then a Samaritan came, saw the bleeding man and took pity on him. He brought him to an inn, paid the inn-keeper to look after the injured man and left extra money to ensure that he gets well. This story is the epitome of how one should love one's neighbour. To will him good.
The Samaritan acted out of selflessness. He felt that it was the right thing to do, seeing a helpless man. That is how we should live our lives...to be stirred by God's love to help the helpless, the poor, the sick, the migrant workers and those living in the fringe of society. To love God is to love his children, remembering that we are all made in His image. With faith and prayer, we can transcend all prejudices and extend our love, mercy, compassion, generosity to all those in need, just as God has so freely accorded us those same graces.
Love, when it is genuine, is all-embracing, stable, and
lasting...an irresistible spur to all forms of heroism.
-Pope Paul VI-
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