You Can't Have One Without the Other

Friday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time &
Saint Louis IX of France and Saint Joseph of Calasanz, priest[1]

Readings for Friday of the 20th Week in Ordinary Time
Biographical Information about Saint Louis IX of France
Biographical Information about Saint Joseph of Calasanz

My dearest son, my first instruction is that you should love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your strength. Without this there is no salvation.

- from a spiritual testament by King Saint Louis IX to his son

Lord, You blessed Saint Joseph Calasanz with such charity and patience that he dedicated himself to the formation of Christian youth. As we honor this teacher of wisdom may we follow his example in working for truth.

- opening prayer for the Mass for Saint Joseph Calasanz

Reflection:

There is so much to reflect upon today that we should just start with our gloomy friend, the Prophet Ezekiel. Today his prophecy involves something fundamentally important to us. Today, while what he talks about is the reunification of Israel and Judah, he also seems to prefigure the resurrection of the dead. This image, which we can take out of context gives us a sense of what the resurrection of the body must be like.

Most important to us today, however is the Gospel which King St. Louis IX quoted to his son (above). It is the basis, as the Savior of the World has said, of the Law and the Prophets. It is the lynch pin of the covenant His sacrifice solidified in the New Covenant.

It is said that when St. John the Evangelist finally settled down in his community, his complete homily each day for years consisted of one short phrase; “Love one another.” When asked why, with all that Jesus taught them in his years of ministry, the Apostle chose to say only those few words, St. John is said to have replied; “Because that is what he thought was most important.”

Today we hear the Great Commandment:

“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

It might be instructive to think about something that may have escaped our notice in this short statement. “The second is like it.” That is what is said. Here it is in all the English translations I could find:

Parallel Verses (Mt 22 39)

ASV: And a second like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

BBE: And a second like it is this, Have love for your neighbour as for yourself.

DBY: And the second is like it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

KJV: And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

WEY: And the second is similar to it: 'Thou shalt love thy fellow man as much as thyself.'

WBS: And the second is like it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

WEB: A second likewise is this,'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

YLT: and the second 'is' like to it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself;

The meaning is consistent. Jesus tells us that the two are linked. We, therefore, are not allowed to claim to love God and not love our neighbor. When we start trying measure how well we are doing in our quest to be like Jesus, this is the first test we must take. Do we love on another? At the risk of pointing out the speck in my brother’s eye and missing the log in my own, how can we justify our negative views about any group or people (illegal immigrants, radical Islamists, or even felons convicted of heinous crimes, with the great commandment? By the Lord’s standard, if we hate a person, we cannot claim to love God. How tough is that?

What it comes down to is this. The Lord tells us it is most important that we love God (what that means exactly will need to wait for another post). He tells us that loving our neighbor as we love ourselves is like that. We can’t have one without the other. But I suspect that there are degrees of love and we can always aspire to a higher degree.

As we strive to follow Christ’s teachings and to become more like him, we are given the Great Commandment. It is the first and most difficult thing we must try to do. All the rest of what we do in the name of the Lord is predicated upon it. That’s what he tells us. Let’s do our best today to make that happen.

Pax

[1] Each day of the year, even though they are not always called out by special readings or celebrations globally, the Church has on its calendar the memory of many saints. See the patron saints index for more saints on a given day.