“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind…You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” – Matthew 22:37-39
Love is a gift from God, who is Love itself (1 John 4:8). The Catechism teaches, “‘God is Love’ and love is his first gift, containing all others” (CCC 733). Love pours forth from God the Father and the Son, and the result is the gift of the Holy Spirit (CCC 246). St. Augustine wrote, “The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father as the first principle and, by the eternal gift of this to the Son, from the communion of both the Father and the Son.”
God invites us to be active participants in this graced life of the Trinity–the love that lives between the Father and the Son, pouring forth as the Holy Spirit– through the Greatest Commandment, given to us in today’s Gospel passage (Matthew 22:34-40). Greater than an invitation, it is a command to participate in this mystery of love. As Christians, we must seek to receive and share the love of God. It is only through grace, the free gift of life and love that God gives us, that we can experience His divine love: “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5).
Where can we begin to practice receiving and offering God’s love with our whole selves: heart, soul, and mind? I think a good start is by ardently striving to keep the Lord’s Day holy. Sundays are set aside for holiness, and especially for keeping the Greatest Commandment to love God and neighbor. We love God by worshiping Him by being active participants in Mass. We rejoice in His Word and receive the precious nourishment of the Eucharist, which fill us with His love. Then we are sent forth to love others: especially our families, fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, and the poor. This causes me to reflect on how I can seek to love God and others more fully, beginning with Sundays as a day of worship, love, and service (CCC 2186).
Come, Holy Spirit of Love. Pour the living water of Your love into my heart. May I always pour it back out to You and others with all my heart, soul, and mind.