Coffee With God

Reflection: Matthew 22: 34-40

The question on the greatest commandment – was also a tricky one. For the Jews, the law of Sabbath and its related prescriptions were very important. Perhaps this was the intention of Matthew to set the priorities right in his community, which was mostly composed of Jewish Christians. The Judaisers were arguing for following the numerous Jewish regulations and Matthew addresses the issue by reminding them of the commandment of Love as taught by Jesus. This is the foundation of our life in faith: Love – our love for God and love for neighbour. You cannot love God without loving your neighbour and you cannot love your neighbour without loving God. Our love for our brothers and sisters is the best witness to our love for God. Love shall be the core or the centre of all that we plan, say and do. Our life in faith and our service to our brothers and sisters are inseparable. Our life in prayer and reception of the sacraments cannot be separated from listening to the other, closeness to their lives, especially to their wounds. Remember this: love is the measure of faith. Love of God and love of neighbour are neither two precepts nor formulas. Pope Francis explains this as a glimpse of two faces – the face of the Father and the face of the brother and sister; in fact only one real face: the face of God. God’s face is reflected in the face of each brother and sister, especially of the most fragile, the defenceless and the needy. Because we are created in God’s own image. And we must ask ourselves: when we meet one of these brothers, are we able to recognize the face of God in him? Indeed, we were created to love and to be loved. God, who is Love, created us to make us participants in his life, to be loved by him and to love him, and with him, to love all other people. This is God’s dream for mankind. And to accomplish it we need his grace; we need to receive within us the capacity to love which comes from God himself. Jesus offers himself to us in the Eucharist for this very reason. In the Eucharist we receive Jesus in the utmost expression of his love. Sharing the body of Christ, we participate in this covenant of love – if we fail to love our brethren, our participation in the Eucharist would be meaningless. Today, we have no problem in accepting the priority of love in principle. But sometimes we fail to realise that love of neighbour involves concern for justice, truth, freedom, peace, and concern for the poor.