THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT - DO I LOVE AS JESUS LOVES?
Today we celebrate the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time. In the readings today, Jesus clearly illuminates for us the essential foundation of our lives, and helps us understand the greatest commandment - to love God with all your heart, soul and mind and to love your neighbor.
The first reading from the book of Exodus 22 continues to give more social teachings in living as a community, after receiving the Ten Commandments. Concern for our migrants, the poor and marginalized, widows, orphans – who were the most vulnerable members in society. God commanded special care, concern and promising to protect them. Charging interest on loans to the poor was prohibited. The loan is seen as assistance to a neighbor and to make money from his need is immoral. Retaining one’s cloak as temporary collateral overnight was forbidden, and to be returned to him before sunset as this is his only covering. God does not remain distant from human suffering, and stands with the vulnerable, calling us to recognize the dignity of every person and to respond with compassion. This leads us to examine how we treat those who are struggling in our society, and do we recognize the suffering of the person next to us?
The second reading from St. Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, the earliest of all St. Paul’s letters continues from where we left off last week. The Thessalonian Christians had experienced the authenticity and imitated St. Paul and his colleagues, thereby imitating the Lord (1 Thessalonians 1:5). In spite of great opposition, they took to the Gospel, broke from idolatry, living in a way that faith is not just words and how true conversion changes lives. They experience joy amid their difficulties, and in the conviction that Christ’s death and resurrection have guaranteed their salvation, and in the second coming of Jesus. St. Paul encourages them by saying that this change brought about a difference in their lives which has been noticed by all, and witness of their strong faith have spread throughout Greece, becoming examples to other communities. Do I expand my heart beyond myself and continue to be a witness of God’s love in my life - in the everyday ups and downs, things that are beyond our control, worries, human emotions and pressures at home, at the workplace, in relationships and in other areas of our lives.
The Gospel passages the last few Sundays have been about disputations between Jesus and the religious authorities regarding the authority of Jesus. Today’s Gospel, Matthew 22: 34-40, we have the last of three questions by Jewish religious leaders trying to trap Jesus into saying something that might get Him arrested. The Pharisees put forward an expert in the law to ask Jesus “Which is the greatest commandment of the Law?” The teachers of the law wanted to see if Jesus would elevate one law at the expense of others, where there are 613 individual commandments of the Mosaic law (consisting of 365 negative “thou shall nots” and 248 positive “thou shalts”).
Instead, Jesus’ reply reaches the core in how we live our lives - to love God with all your heart, soul and mind and to love your neighbor (Matthew 22:37-39). To Love, not obey, not adore, not fear and not singling out one of the ten commandments as the greatest. To direct our lives and allowing God to shape our priorities and choices. Giving God the first place in our hearts, not an afterthought, nor remembered only when facing difficulties. Discerning and following God’s will; rather than absorbed and disproportionately directed to ambitions, power, wealth, honor, and other worldly things. When the love of God guides us, everything falls into place.
Do I love God with all of my heart, mind and soul and does love truly lead my decisions and actions? In the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius of Loyola presents a meditation on the 3 classes of persons to help us understand our inordinate attachments to worldly things (like wealth, status, comfort) and to cultivate instead a true spiritual freedom to follow God’s will. St. Ignatius uses an example of three people who have each acquired a large sum of money, not purely for the glory of God, and who now want to save their souls and find peace without being weighed down by their attachment to it. He categorizes their responses into three distinct spiritual profiles - the postponer, the bargainer, and the free person. The postponer desires to live a life of service in imitation of Christ but feels there are many more important things that he has to attend to first. So, every time we put off doing God’s work, saying we will get around to it eventually, we behave like a postponer. The bargainer also desires to serve God but wants to keep the worldly asset or comfort. We try to bargain and want to follow God on our own specific conditions. The free person steps away from personal bias, their only desire is to do whatever gives God the greatest glory and achieves what St. Ignatius calls “holy indifference.” They experience true spiritual freedom and peace, enabling them to make completely unhindered, loving choices. Such a person loves God with all of one’s heart, mind and soul. Am I a postponer, a bargainer or a free person?
Immediately after Jesus’ teaching to love God with all your heart, soul and mind, He could have stopped there. Yet, Jesus adds something that was not asked by the Pharisee. He says, in fact “And a second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). Love of God finds its expression in love for our neighbor - both are inseparable and sustain one another. We express our love for the Lord certainly in praise, worship, going to Mass; and we express that praise in concrete terms by loving one another, how we treat others. Our neighbor is not just someone we like or know, and includes the vulnerable, those who are different from us and even those with whom we disagree. To love our neighbor is a conscious choice and to act on it. St. John in his first letter 4:16 said “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” Love for God must be paired with love for family and fellow human beings “for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from Him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also” (1John 4:20).
Jesus showed us what love is. The love that touched the sick, the deaf, the diseased, the disabled and the hurting. The love for the Father that led Him to prayers all night, welcoming and spending time with tax collectors, sinners whom society rejected. Warned the unrighteous Pharisees and scribes, wept and washed His disciples’ feet. The love that told of a shepherd searching for a lost sheep, a father rushing out to embrace and kiss his lost son as he welcomed him home. The love that turns the other cheek, and willingly walked that extra mile. The love that carried a cross and died upon it. The love that welcomes each of us into God’s family, giving us new life in the waters of Baptism and joy in life everlasting.
In the world today, we ask if this is an abstract ideal, given the ongoing wars, divisions, fragility of relationships, distractions, disillusionments and many other challenges. St. Teresa of Calcutta responded to a journalist who asked her if she had illusions about changing the world by what she was doing. “I no, I never thought I could change the world! I only wanted to be a drop of clean water, through which God’s love could shine” (meeting with journalists after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, Rome, 1979). This was how she could do so much good – by reflecting God’s love like a drop. And at times, looking at her and other saints, we might be moved to think that they are heroes that cannot be imitated; let us think again about that small drop, love is a drop that can change many things.
Pope Leo in his message for the 100th World Mission Sunday on October 18, 2026 writes on our mission to love – proclaiming, living and sharing God’s faithful love. The Gospel of God’s faithful love, became flesh in the face and life of Jesus Christ. The mission of the disciples and the Church as a whole is to continue the mission of Christ in the Holy Spirit, a mission born of love, lived in love and leading to love. The Lord himself, in prayer to the Father before His Passion, after invoking unity among His disciples, concludes “so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:26). Thus, guided by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love, the Church’s evangelizing mission will continue to the end of time.
As in the Responsorial Psalm 17(18), this song of thanksgiving expresses a central theme of God’s faithfulness to His people. Loving God fully and loving others brings peace, purpose and hope to our lives and to the world. The psalmist’s joy and confidence invite all believers to find strength in God’s unchanging love. Through love, believers live the law not as burden but as joy. The call to love God and neighbor stands at the heart of discipleship.
We make it our prayer that we become truly free persons and live the most important commandment Jesus gave us – the commandment of Love. May Mary, our Mother help us to welcome into our lives the great commandment of love of God and neighbor. Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit, who allows us to love God and neighbor as He does, with a free and generous heart. Lord, teach us to love as You love. Help us to treat others with kindness and fairness. Open our eyes to see those who need our help. May our faith be shown in the way we live. Amen.
Article by HFC Blog Contributor Olivia Tan