HOMILY OF 3RD FRIDAY IN LENT — YEAR A
HOMILY OF 3RD FRIDAY IN LENT — YEAR A
HOMILY THEME: Jesus says, “There is no other commandment greater than these.”
BY: Fr. Mike Lagrimas
Hosea 14:1-9; Mark 12:28-34
One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus replied, “The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
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The ninth commandment of God is, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Ex 20:16). Telling a lie is, therefore, sinful. Lying to man is bad; but lying to God is infinitely worse. This is what the Apostle John in his First Letter pointed out: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1Jn:20).
When asked about what is the greatest commandment, Jesus gives a double answer: Love of God and love of neighbor. There is only one commandment: Love. The first is love of God, and the second is love of neighbor. These two loves are inseparable. Love of God is supposed to be seen in the love of neighbor. In fact, Jesus identifies himself with those who are in need: “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers that you do unto me” (Mt 25:40). And so the Apostle John calls a person a big liar if he fails to do so.
On the other hand, love of neighbor comes from love of God. Otherwise, it is not genuine love at all. The reason why we love our neighbor is because we love God. St. Augustine concludes, “Whoever seems to himself to have understood the Scriptures in such a way that he does not build up that double love of God and neighbor has not yet understood.”
St. Vincent de Paul is called the Apostle of Charity. At some point he was criticized by his confreres because he would readily leave community prayer to help a beggar or a sick person at the door. For them, it is not right to leave God in the middle of prayer time and go to the needs of a mere creature. To this, St. Vincent replied: “If you must leave prayer to attend the sick, leave it, and as you leave God in prayer , you will find God with the sick.” St. Francis de Sales puts it succinctly: “To love our neighbor in charity is to love God in man.”
Every person needs two feet in order to walk on earth. Similarly, every Christian, in order to move forward towards God’s Kingdom, needs two feet in the spiritual life: love of God and love of neighbor. Do we have both feet strong and functioning properly?
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