The Only Imperative

Gospel: Matthew 22: 34-40

There is only one commandment of the law, one categorical imperative placed upon us - and that is to love.  We need not parse or make distinction between loving God and neighbor.  We love God by loving our neighbor.  God has no no need of our love or anything else.  God is not honored by building shrines or other such things.  God's temple on earth is the heart of every person.  In pouring oil and wine on the wounds of another to heal them we give worship to God greater than any solemn high Mass.

The duty of every person lies in discerning in each encounter with another how to love that person, just as Jesus did.  Our love for others is to mirror the love Jesus showed to other people - in healing, liberating, and feeding other people.  It consists in providing for their needs, not our own.  There is no greater moment than the present time in whatever encounter with another in which we find ourselves.  Each moment is a sacramental experience.

There were quaint times when we once pondered the question - what would Jesus do - and reflect deeply on the Imitation of Christ.  Jesus did not build empires or sell timeshares in a pew.  Jesus went about doing good to everyone he met wherever he went in his short life on earth.  Today is a day to take up again a reflection on what Jesus would do, how we might imitate the Lord in how to love others each and every day.