Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary

Statue in Friars Chapel at MSF

Lectionary: 461

You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself.”

The Good Samaritan of today’s gospel is not only a familiar story; he is a familiar person. This traveler is one of those decent human beings who does the right thing and doesn’t seem to give it too much thought. I am sure we have all met Samaritans in grocery stores when we were a little short of change; or on the highway when we had a flat tire or ran out of gas. Good Samaritans see people in distress and offer help. They don’t hesitate; they don’t pause to ask, “Where will this end up?” They just do it.

In Jesus' story the Samaritan offers additional help if it is needed. He tells the innkeeper, "Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.” There is more where that came from because God is good; his mercy endures forever.

In Saint Luke’s Gospel the second command -- and your neighbor as yourself -- might be an afterthought; it comes so quickly. It is joined to the first law by the verb phrase, “you shall love….” Though they are found in different books of the Old Testament, Deuteronomy and Leviticus, Jesus has wed them together like a husband to his wife and a wife to her husband. They are inseparable.

The reader might expect to find a story about the love of God following hard upon the "first commandment." The lawyer might have asked, "How does one love God?" I'm sure many people today would like to hear Jesus' reply to that question. It is given with the story of the Good Samaritan. The Lover of God (Theophilus) demonstrates total dedication to God by caring for a neighbor.

The conjunction of these two laws is not simply the work of Jesus; it is our common experience. If we love God, or even suppose that we should love God, we make the effort to love our neighbors. In his first letter Saint John insisted on this,

Whoever says he is in the light, yet hates his brother, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother remains in the light, and there is nothing in him to cause a fall.

Whoever hates his brother is in darkness; he walks in darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.  (I John 2:9)

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. This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. (I John 4:20)

 

Saint James also reflects on the link between these two commandments:

However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law, but falls short in one particular, has become guilty in respect to all of it.

Jesus tells us you cannot claim to love either God or neighbor without keeping both laws. They go together like a horse and carriage.

Do you wonder how much you love God? How much do you care for your least favorite person? There's your answer.