“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Luke 12:40

Last week we heard the Pharisees trying to catch Jesus in a trap by asking him a question about paying taxes to Caesar. This week the Pharisees are at again, questioning Jesus which is the greatest commandment.  At the time of Jesus, the Pharisees had enumerated 613 commandments but there was no agreement as to the ranking. It was assumed however that the commandments did not all have equal weight. The Ten Commandments, or the Decalogue, were obviously “heavy” or important commandments.  An example of a “light” or less important commandment is found in Deuteronomy 22:6-7. This commandment stipulates that a person who finds a bird's nest with a mother sitting on eggs or with young may take the young but must let the mother go.

So if not all the commandments were of the same importance, then clearly there must be a most important, or “greatest” commandment.

At first, Jesus answers his questioners in a very orthodox Jewish way, quoting the great schema of Deuteronomy 6:5: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Even though this prayer was not counted among the commandments, faithful Jews recited it daily. But then Jesus throws the Pharisee another wrinkle by adding a quote from Leviticus 19:18 “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  

Instead of explicit instructions, Jesus is simply telling the Pharisees and us to love.  Rather than following the rules and obeying all the external observances, Jesus is calling us to an interior conversion. To love with all our heart, soul, and mind is to open ourselves to the possibility of transformation.

The law and the prophets are summed up by loving God and loving neighbor. This is not something over and above our daily lives. It is the fabric of our lives. It is that which makes us who we are and makes us whole. Loving God and loving neighbor is the heart of our daily lives, the springboard of our actions, the basis of our decisions, and the reason for our prayer life.

Which commandment is the greatest? The commandment to be so close to God that we become His presence for others. We pray today that we might love God with our whole heart, our whole mind and whole soul, then we will have no choice but to bring God’s love to those around us.

Blessings, 

Deacon Jack

St. Clare of Assisi

Houston, TX