Key To Perfection: Love God And Neighbor

𝐀𝐔𝐆. 𝟐𝟐, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐕𝐈𝐑𝐆𝐈𝐍  𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐑𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝟏:𝟏, 𝟑-𝟔, 𝟏𝟒-𝟏𝟔, 𝟐𝟐

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟒𝟔:𝟓-𝟏𝟎 “𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓 𝟐𝟐:𝟑𝟒-𝟒𝟎)

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: "𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅." (𝒗.37)

          Our God exhorts us “𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒚, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒚” (𝑳𝒆𝒗 11:44)  and Our Lord said this again in 1 𝑷𝒆𝒕 1:16 “𝑩𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒚,” and everyone of course want to be holy and there are many of us who will spend a lifetime searching for the Kingdom of God and the means to attain holiness.

         We respond to the call to holiness because there is that inner desire in us to gain the eternal salvation that God has so generously promised to those who will believe in him. And in the pursuit of holiness and eternity, we find ourselves doing so many things in the Church or Community than what we are capable of handling.

          And when we miss our goal, we get frustrated and end up in the same spiritless condition we were in. The wise will reflect on what could have gone wrong in their search and perhaps resume their search. Others will fall back into the same world that they tried to escape from, and they’ll end up living the same kind of life marked by spiritual despondency.

          But the common problem in the pursuit of holiness is not knowing where to begin and oftentimes we tend to give up when we are battered by life-storms (problems, failures, losses, death in the family, sickness) and strong winds (irritants, frustrations, bitterness, resentments, anger, unforgiveness) that punctuate our lives.

          We can begin by drawing inspiration from what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆.” (𝑪𝑪𝑪2015)          And this is where we get stuck because many of us who have been spoiled by the care of this world just couldn’t shake off the dust off our feet and no matter how many times we resolve to change we find ourselves living and loving what the world can offer.

          This is where the difference between believing and doing comes into play. It is not enough that we only believe in God because while salvation may be a free gift from God, it just doesn’t work that way. There is a corresponding action that we need to adopt to begin the process of salvation.

          We need to work on our salvation ourselves and we can start by believing and doing what Jesus told the Sadducees – we need to “𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕.” (𝒗.37)         

          To love God is to know Him and enter into an intimate union with Him and, we need not only commit this 𝒗.37 to memory but we must move ourselves to give to God the totality of our being because salvation starts with a total commitment of our lives to God. This is where the positive action is needed because to know and love God, we must make a decision to detach from our worldly ways that are incompatible with God.

          And here, Jesus raised the ante even further when he said in 𝒗.39 “𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒏𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇” as the second greatest commandment. Again, this requires a positive action on our part because there are many Christians who get stuck when loving our neighbors is asked of us.

          The human side in us resists when memories of past hurt surfaces when we come face to face with our neighbors particularly our relatives and loved ones with whom we have tangled with in the past especially those with whom we are still locked in personal differences.

          But Jesus is not only being emphatic in the Gospel, but he changed the whole concept of what the Jews believed at the time and this means that if the Jews were to follow His words they are obliged to love even the Gentiles and non-Jews whom they treat as dogs.

          This is the same with us and we just have to draw on our faith and our complete reliance on the Holy Spirit to move in us and bring us to perfection and holiness by loving God and our neighbor. "𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦." All are called to holiness: "𝑩𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕, 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕." (𝑪𝑪𝑪2013)             

         Being aware of who we are makes it easy for us to love God and our neighbor as well. To love God first takes precedence above everything else because it is only when we can love God that man is infused with the Grace to love those who like us were created in the image and likeness of God.

         It is when we act positively to love God and our neighbor that “𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒖𝒑𝒐𝒏 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅. 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑩𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒖𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆.” (𝑪𝑪𝑪2017)        

         And it is this same Grace that will move us to enter into an intimate union with Christ that will help establish our complete devotion to God and the impetus to serve and love our neighbor along the way.

         Jesus emphasizes the importance of these two commandments because the action that results from our loving God and our neighbor in a positive way is what will propel us as Christian disciples to become fruitful in our service to God through our service in the Church or Community for that matter.

         To become fruitful servants means that the fruits of the Holy Spirit – 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐣𝐨𝐲, 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 – have become evident in our lives and are easily discernible when others look at us.

         But these fruits of the Holy Spirit need to be anchored on our loving our God with all our hearts, soul and minds and loving our neighbor as ourselves because these two commandments are what will motivate us to give of our time, talent and treasure in the service of our Church.     

        Today is also the Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was Pope Pius XII established this feast in 1954. But the Blessed Virgin Mary’s queenship also has roots in Scripture. At the Annunciation, Gabriel announced that Mary’s Son would receive the throne of David and rule forever.

        At the Visitation, Elizabeth calls Mary “𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝.” As in all the mysteries of Mary’s life, she is closely associated with Jesus: Her queenship is a share in Jesus’ kingship. We can also recall that in the Old Testament the mother of the king has great influence in court.

       In the fourth century Saint Ephrem called Mary “𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲” 𝐚𝐧𝐝 “𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧.” Later Church fathers and doctors continued to use this title. Hymns of the 11th to 13th centuries address Mary as queen: “𝐇𝐚𝐢𝐥, 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧,” “𝐇𝐚𝐢𝐥, 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧,” “𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧.” The Dominican rosary and the Franciscan crown as well as numerous invocations in Mary’s litany celebrate her queenship.

       The feast is a logical follow-up to the Assumption and is now celebrated on the octave day of that feast. In his 1954 encyclical To the Queen of Heaven, Pius XII points out that Mary deserves the title because she is the Mother of God, because she is closely associated as the New Eve with Jesus’ redemptive work, because of her preeminent perfection, and because of her intercessory power.

        As Saint Paul suggests in Romans 8:28–30, God has predestined human beings from all eternity to share the image of his Son. All the more was Mary predestined to be the mother of Jesus. As Jesus was to be king of all creation, Mary, in dependence on Jesus, was to be queen.

        All other titles to queenship derive from this eternal intention of God. As Jesus exercised his kingship on earth by serving his Father and his fellow human beings, so did Mary exercise her queenship. As the glorified Jesus remains with us as our king till the end of time (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟐𝟖:𝟐𝟎), so does Mary, who was assumed into heaven and crowned queen of heaven and earth. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘈𝘶𝘨. 22, 2025)