Reflection for August 25, Friday of the 20th Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 22:34-40

Gospel: Matthew 22:34-40

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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Reflection:

How deep is God’s love for us? We will never know because God’s love for us is infinite. As a testament of God’s infinite love He even gave His only begotten son for His love for us. 

How deep is our love for God? This is something that we have to think about deeply. Is it enough to express our love for God by fulfilling our Sunday obligation by our presence at Holy Mass? Certainly not for God requires that our love for Him should translate to our love for our neighbor. Therefore if we say we love God we also should learn to love our neighbor no matter how unlovable this neighbor is. 

Who is our neighbor? Our neighbor could be a relative, a friend, a literal neighbor or a complete stranger who needs our help. The big question here is what if this neighbor is unlovable or what if this neighbor is not good to us? Should we still give our love to this neighbor?   

Yes of course for we cannot separate our love for God with our love for our neighbor. If we say that we love God yet we don’t love our neighbor because they are not good to us, then how could this love of God that we profess be true?  

Therefore to love God is to unconditionally love our neighbor no matter if this neighbor has deeply hurt us. To love God is to forgive everyone who caused us pain. Do you love God? - Marino J. Dasmarinas