UNDAILY Episode 153
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.
MARK 12, 28-34 (NIV)
In his response to the scribe’s question, Jesus reminds us that the entire essence of the Law and the Prophets is contained in love for God and neighbor. Without this, our religious practices are empty, and our faith is dead. I encourage you to be guided by love in your daily lives, the love that comes from God and is unconditional. Let our hearts be full of love for God, which transforms into love for our neighbor. Only in this way can we be true followers of Christ and build the Kingdom of God on earth. As the late Father Jan Twardowski wrote in his poem: Let's hurry to love people, they leave so quickly, they'll leave behind only their shoes and a silent phone, only what is unimportant drags on like a cow, the most important things are so fast, they happen suddenly, then comes the usual silence, entirely unbearable, like purity born most simply from despair, when we think of someone while remaining without them.
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