It can be difficult to evangelize people, particularly family and close friends, especially when the Catholic Faith does not lend itself to being explained quickly and simply. And we have become a “sound bite” culture! If something cannot be explained in 140 words or less, a Catholic bearing witness to the Faith will lose today’s audience.
However, we have Matthew 22:34-40, known as “The Greatest Commandment” of Jesus Christ, our Savior:
34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sad′ducees, they came together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.”
Matthew 22:34-40
This says it all! Listeners will come away with an explanation provided directly from Jesus in the Gospel that not only perfectly summarizes, but also provides a practical toolbox for how to live life in the light of the Catholic Faith.
Let’s unpack this:
- It first tells us how we are to love our Creator, God, the Father. We are to do this passionately, with all our hearts, souls, and minds. In this way, our hearts are filled with love and gratitude for our Heavenly Father, an even greater devotion than we owe to our Earthly fathers.
- We should work to keep our souls spotless of any sins, so that we are acceptable to God, and stay in loving relationship with Him. You would never want to hurt someone with whom you’re in a loving relationship, right?
- And finally, we should think of God, our beloved, constantly!
If we do these things, we are surely to be found to be pleasing to our Lord, and thereby spend eternity with Him in Heaven.
Many tend to think of a relationship with God as much like a relationship with an employer. It’s considered to be one of respect and duty, less about passion, and oftentimes transactional in nature.
However, Matthew’s Gospel challenges us to see a relationship with God as one of great love and passion. According to Matthew’s Gospel, it should be God who’s the first person we think of when we awake each morning, thanking Him for another day to serve Him, and He’s the last person we think of as we fall asleep in the evening. How romantic is that!
St. Therese of Lisieux, in reference to the Gospel’s Letter of St. Paul to the Romans, says, “St. Paul assures us that without the Spirit of Love, we cannot call God our Father.” She’s specifically referring to Romans 8:15-17, which says:
“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ…”
Romans 8:15-17
And secondly, Matthew’s Gospel says, “you should love your neighbor as yourself.”
This can be difficult! Some may interpret this as welcoming a new family that moves to the neighborhood with a Bundt cake. There’s nothing wrong with Bundt cake; I like Bundt cake! But this Gospel verse is saying so much more than that!
Basically, consider everyone who inhabits planet Earth as your neighbor. You must love everyone. This includes:
- People who live in a different state or a different country than you
- People who practice a different religion or no religion
- People who root for a different sports team
- People who act and think differently than you
Jesus says to love them!
It also includes people you briefly encounter in your day-to-day activities:
- The store clerk who may seem inattentive to your needs
- The person who disposes of your garbage and may leave your trash can in the street
- The co-worker who takes advantage of your good-nature and continually asks you to take on extra work
- Even the next-door neighbor who has a loud party every Saturday night, and never invites you to be a guest
Jesus says to love these people, all of them. It’s revolutionary!
It’s all about Love, with a capital “L,” Love, Love, Love!
There are days I don’t feel capable of loving all of these people though. It can be hard, very hard! It’s like “roll over and hit the Snooze button” kind of hard.
Yet this command comes directly from the Savior, who shed his blood in sacrifice for the Salvation of the whole world. How can I tell him, “No”?
I cannot, so I try. I try every day. Some days, I admit that I don’t do a very good job. Some days, however, I feel like, “Hey, I got this Love thing down. It’s not so bad.” On days like this, I feel a peace inside that I cannot describe in words. It’s beautiful!
Then other days challenge me. I encounter a person who greatly tests my patience in ways I couldn’t previously imagine. This person may have a personal habit that grates on my patience, or this person may make a comment that makes me feel uncomfortable.
This person may say something such as, “I loathe the Phillies!” and the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team has been my favorite sports team since childhood!
On those days, I try to love that person harder. I pray for the grace and strength to persevere. On those days, I grow in my faith.
If today wasn’t a very good day for me to love my neighbor, I’ll pray that I do better the next day. I’ll take one day at a time. Faith is a journey after all.
This, to me, is the Catholic Faith in a nutshell. If a person understands Love with a capital “L”, that person is well on the way in a spiritual journey in the Catholic Faith.
~G.C. Myers
Women at the Well 
You must be logged in to post a comment.