Gospel • Mt 22:34-40
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When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall 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 is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
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After Jesus silences the Sadducees on the resurrection, a Pharisee questions Jesus to trap him. Jesus is not intimidated even if the challenge is presented in bad faith, seizing it as an opportunity to teach.
“You shall love the Lord, your God.” Jesus quotes Dt 6:5, drawing from the principle that if one truly loves God, one will not break any other commandment.
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus quotes from Lv 19:18. A healthy self-love enables one to respect the rights of others and to love them. When love reigns, everything will fall in place, because no one who truly loves God and neighbor will intentionally wrong either.
As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to translate these two commandments in a thousand ways in our daily life.
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SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2020,” ST. PAULS Philippines, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
