The Greatest Commandment

Bishop Robert Barron tells a story from his time as Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles. I recently saw it in print, so you may have too. He was invited to tour the isolated ranch that President Ronald and Nancy Reagan used as their “Western White House” escape during his presidency back in the 1980s. The Reagans made an odd couple. President Reagan was a big, slow talking, folksy cowboy-type figure. Nancy Reagan was a small, quiet, elegant, and sophisticated woman who recognized the finer things in life, and the importance of appearances. She was also very good at working behind the scenes to get her way and make things “just so.” When the Reagans moved into the White House, for instance, the price tag and opulence of her extensive makeover of the mansion caused quite a stir in the press.

Since the ranch is not open to the public, Bishop Barron remarked on how surprised he was when he visited. Surrounded by beautiful natural terrain, the house itself was very simple. In particular, the bedroom the Reagans used was especially small, very basic, and very inelegant. Given Mrs. Reagan’s tastes, the Bishop remarked to one of the guides that Mrs. Reagan must have hated it there. “On the contrary,” the guide replied. “She loved it here.” When Bishop Barron looked puzzled, the guide continued, “SHE loved it because HE loved it, and she loved HIM.” // Hold that thought. We’ll come back to it. But first, let’s talk about the Gospel – the “Greatest Commandment.”

Once again, the Pharisees try to trip up Christ, an itinerant, unschooled preacher in their eyes, who’s making them look bad. So they ask Him which of the 614 Jewish commandments is the most important, thinking no matter how He answers they’ll be able to spin it. By Jewish law, all the commandments must be obeyed. But Jesus brings forth a new teaching, a new way of interpreting Jewish tradition and scripture.

Christ combines two ancient and core Jewish prayers and beliefs to give us a new commandment that’s actually very old. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”The Pharisees would’ve recognized this immediately. It comes from the She’ma prayer, recited by all devout Jews twice a day, morning and evening. It’s considered the centerpiece of Jewish belief, and comes from the Book of Deuteronomy in Torah. Then Jesus adds a second part, a new spin. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”But this so-called “new” teaching is straight out of Torah as well, from the Holiness Code in the Book of Leviticus, 19:18. By joining the two passages, Jesus reinterprets Torah to show his adversaries – and us – the true intent of this ancient teaching.

“Love God, love neighbor.” Instead of all the rules the ancient Jews – and maybe the modern Church – seem to focus on, it’s just this one formula. It seems pretty basic, pretty simple. But in truth, it’s really hard. The thing is – there are no loopholes in love. We all profess to love God. And we work pretty hard in our hearts to be faithful and true to Him. But do we really, truly, love God “with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind?”

It comes back to the Reagan ranch story. “SHE love it because He loved it, and SHE loved HIM.” If we fully and truly love GOD, then we have to love what HE loves. And what does GOD love? He loves US – every one of us, warts and all, with all our sins and failures. And not just the people sitting here, or our friends, or the nice people next door – our “pretty” neighbors. He loves our “ugly” neighbors, too, just like He loves US. The illegal alien, the migrant camped at the border, the abortion doctor, the militant atheist, the arrogant politician spewing hatred and lies, and even hostage-taking terrorists and deranged gunmen shooting down old men and kids – God loves them all. And if we truly and fully love God, He expects us to love them too.

So what does it mean to love our neighbor? Love isn’t a feeling or an emotion. It’s a CHOICE we’re called to make, in spite of how we feel. It’s wanting the best for the other, regardless of who they are, or what they’ve done. You certainly don’t have to LIKE them. For some of our brothers and sisters, that would be humanly impossible.

And Love is an ACTION. It’s an active verb, a call to action. Regardless of how we feel about immigration and border security, about welfare or vouchers or food stamps, we don’t get to sit on the sidelines. If we truly love God, then we’re called to actively WORK for the good of our neighbors – ESPECIALLY those in great need. Social justice and social morality aren’t the entirety of the Gospel, but they’re certainly close to its heart. And for those who have hurt us, have turned away from God, or have embraced evil and hate, we need to pray for their healing and conversion, that they too might find God’s love. Even when it’s hard, we need to take care to embrace the fullness of our faith – love of God AND love of neighbor. That’s our Gospel message today.

Each of us are called to love God – and we do that by actively loving our neighbor. You don’t get to choose – the two are inseparable. Pope Francis puts it this way: “Love for God and love for neighbor...are in fact inseparable and complementary, two sides of the same coin. You cannot love God without loving your neighbor and you cannot love your neighbor without loving God. …In effect, the visible sign a Christian can show in order to witness to his love for God to the world, to others, and to his family is the love he bears for his brothers.”

Love God, love neighbor. It’s that simple – and that hard. If we truly love God, we have to love WHO God loves. And we have to love HOW God loves — without limits and without measure. By ourselves, we may not get there. But if we truly embrace the gift of the Holy Spirit alive within us, and allow God’s love to flow out throughus, we can become capable of immeasurable love.