Love One Another - Fr. Jim

There is a very deep and strong connection between the commandments of God and LOVE. God is love and the commands he gives us is to bring us into love with Him and each other. The 10 commandments are divided into two sections - our love for God and our love for each other. The ensuing books of Bible expounds on the 10 commandments. For example in the 10 commandments it reads "thou shall not steal, BUT in Leviticus we see laws that speak about leaving grains in the fields for the poor. To harvest completely means that the poor will be left without provisons and therefore stealing from God. All the commandments that seek to curb our selfish human nature and to guide us to love our neighbors. The authority of the 10 commandments is God's love for us. God is love and holiness.

Jesus expounded on the 10 commandments in His sermon on the Mount. In summarizing the 10 commandments Jesus reminded to love God with all our hearts and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus gave us content to the concept of love by living and giving us real examples. (Parable of the Good Samaritan. In the parable of the Prodigal Son Jesus demonstrated the love and forgiveness of God for those who have gone a stray. Jesus spoke in love to those who he encountered. He healed lepers that were outcasts. He reached across social, ethnic and cultural boundaries to reveal the love of God - He healed the Roman centurian, He rescued the woman caught in adultery, he counseled the woman at the well which led to the conversion of her village; He sat with tax collectors; Jewish leaders who wanted learn more from Him. No one was outside of Jesus's love.

By His life and death on the cross Jesus revealed the love of God in action. He made the ultumate sacrifice by giving up His blameless life for our sinful life. His awesome sacrifice gave birth to a new definition of love - AGAPE- and a new commandment: "Love one another as I have loved you"

It is so easy to love those who love us but what about the persons who irritate us, who have wronged us, those who are unrepentant of past bad or present behaviour? They too are needing of our love. Our love may be their only encounter with the love of God ... See more