Gospel: Matthew 22: 34-40
In a law based ethical system it often happens that competing duties and laws will exist in a given situation. So, the challenge is in knowing what to do: how to prioritize these competing duties and laws. This is the impetus behind the question posed to Jesus in today's Gospel portion: which is the greatest of the commandments - which one has the greatest priority over all the others. Jesus not only gives a particular law, but also provides us with an entire method of ethical and spiritual discernment.
Jesus tells us that loving God and loving neighbor are the two great commandments, which are in reality only one. For we only love God by loving other people. We do not love God in building shrines or in attending novenas. We love God by loving others in the way God has loved us. Jesus went about healing others, delivering people from what binds them, and nourishing them in body and soul. That is what we are meant to do in our life as well.
So, as we go about our daily lives we take to mind this method of discernment. How is God calling me to love others today? In this situation and decision before me, what is the option where I love my neighbor most effectively? This is how to keep the law; this is how to discern ethically and spiritually in our lives.
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