Jesus summed up in today’s gospel the whole history of faith and salvation in two commandments – love of God and love of neighbors. But the base of these two commandments is pointed towards the discovery of self-love. Finding and carrying out these commandments start with ourselves. In finding and experiencing God’s love we come to know that loving and sacrificing our self in love is the way of faith and finding God. The pursuit of the world with its vanities and values and excuses and self-centeredness, and its concepts of reward and punishment, all confound and hide what is the true value of God’s love. God loves all of us personally. No matter what we do, that love remains perfect. It is what WE do to respond and return that love that determines our relationship with God. He always responds to us, but how do we respond to him? How do we respond to our neighbor? Are we petty, arrogant, harassing, prejudiced, judgmental, unforgiving, or unloving in a hundred other ways? Are these ways of developing and growing in love of finding God who is love itself? Love is a living growing active thing. Certainly the love of a young just married couple changes as the years go on. It deepens and unites them all the more. So it is with our Love of God and how we stand with Him. Love is not easy, because it requires much work. At the same time it is joyful because it is self-fulfilling and God gives us His love to do it.
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