10/29/2023 (Sunday) Today’s gospel reading: Matthew 22:34-40

34 When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together,
35 and one of them, a scholar of the law tested him by asking,
36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
37 He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
38 This is the greatest and the first commandment.
39 The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
40 The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

10/29/2023 (Sunday) Today’s gospel reflection / homily / sermon: Matthew 22:34-40

It has often been said that Christian love has two dimensions: the vertical and the horizontal. The vertical dimension of love refers to our love of God while the horizontal dimension is our love of neighbor. When the these two dimensions are put together, it forms a cross (+). That is why in the cross of Christ, we find the perfect example of love. Jesus showed the vertical dimension of love by His complete submission to the will of His Father. On the other hand, He gave His life as a ransom for all people who accept His offer of salvation.

If Jesus is our perfect model, then we too must show obedience to the greatest commandment. First of all, we must glorify God by dying to ourselves so that He will reign in our life. With Him as our Lord and King, He will fill us with His love and thus we are able to love our neighbors.

Indeed, our love for God is meaningless unless we love our neighbor. The scripture explains that “whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they can see, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. (1 John 4:20)”

Loving one another becomes much easier when we believe that God is present in all of us. Moreover, when we believe that we belong to one family under the fatherhood of God, we look at each other as brothers and sisters. With that, loving one another comes naturally. Let us therefore pray that God who loved us first will continue to melt and mold our heart so we will really love Him back and our neighbors too.

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