A Pharisee, tries to trick Jesus with the question that people had long debated, “Which commandment of the law is the greatest?” He was asking what is the most important standard to live by? Jesus’ answer is simple and direct, “You shall love the Lord with everything in you, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” No matter how often we hear these words, we are challenged by the demands they place upon us. Jesus brings together the love of God and love of our neighbor as something inseparable, like two sides of a coin. Loving God whom we cannot see, is false if it is not complemented by loving our fellow men with whom we rub elbows every day. Scripture reminds us that “those who say, I love God but hate their brothers and sisters are liars.” We cannot call ourselves Christians and continue crucifying our neighbor.
Loving one’s neighbor can be challenging especially when the people next door is bad mannered or getting on our nerves. To show love to such people is difficult and demands great effort. Make no mistake, our religion can become an escape and our holiness an illusion, even if we pray daily, go to Church on Sundays, yet cut ourselves off from the people. The Gospel of Jesus is not an ideal to be admired but a way of life to be lived
