LOVE OF GOD AND NEIGHBOR

LOVE of GOD and LOVE of NEIGHBOR are the two greatest commandments that contain in a nutshell the Ten Commandments of God.  In Matthew 22: 36-40, when a lawyer asked Jesus “which is the greatest commandment in the Law” Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like it, Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets”.

          Meditating on the statement of our Lord Jesus Christ, the following questions came to my mind:

      1. Can a person love God without loving his neighbor?

                2. Can he love his neighbor without loving God?

          To answer these questions, I consulted the Catechism for Filipino Catholics (CFC) and found out that there are, indeed, some misconceptions or erroneous ideas about love of God and love of neighbor.

1.    First is, “Piety without Service”.

Many “pious” Christian Filipinos act as if their Church-going devotional piety takes care of loving both God and neighbor.  They don’t understand that their piety is authentically Christian only when it is united with loving service of others.

2.    Second is, “Service without Piety”.

A second type of rationalizing is becoming more common: “I love God by loving my neighbor.”  Therefore, no more need for prayer or going to Church.”  The ground, however, for our love for one another must be God.

3.    Third is, “seeing love of another as opposed to love of God”.  But all our true, authentic love is inspired by God.  God is never in competition with another  for our love.

4.    Another error is, “loving another only as a means for loving God.”  Since God directly loves and has intrinsically blessed each and every person, no human person can ever be “used” as a “means” for anything, even for loving God.  We can never make another person merely a stepping stone for our drawing closer to God.  Rather it is precisely in loving recognition of the intrinsic value of other persons that our love shares in God’s own love for them.  Thus, it is within a genuine, radical, unconditional love of persons who are loved for and in themselves, that true Christian love of God is exercised.

The CFC states that “There is  an  inner  connection  between   loving

 God and loving one’s neighbor. For without this dynamic unity, neither God and loving one’s neighbor can be truly Christian, that is, Christ-like.  “The commandment we have from him is this: whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1 John 4:21)

By: Buddy Cagurangan

October 9, 2011