Matthew 22:37

“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Mt 22:37)
(http://www.focolare.org/en/news/2011/05/01/maggio-2011/)

Like Jesus, also Saint Augustine gave an extremely simple answer to all of the theologians, to the moralists, to the canonists: “Love and do what you will”.

But in order to love it is necessary to know Love, it is necessary to be love, just as God Who loves us and is Love.

Jesus, making of the two only one commandment, indicates to us that the point of encounter between the love of God and neighbour is the Incarnation. God Who makes Himself flesh, that is man. From this moment the path which leads us to God passes obligatorily by way of man, by way of the Son of God which we all have become.

In the Old Testament the law of love came by way of “com-passion”, by way of the being all image of God, by way of the origin and the common destiny of all.

Today, the other is Jesus. In Him one finds all God Who offered Himself for us and for all of humanity which in Jesus was recreated into a new life by way of the cross.

Thus to be Christians is simple; it is enough to love. But this is extremely demanding because love requires all; it gives all; it is God.

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An Experience of Life:

Last year, fully committing myself, I succeeded in being the first in my class. For this I received a cash prize from the school. I gave the money to my parents who used it, supplementing the amount, in order to buy two books which I would need for the year. During the vacation, a friend asked to borrow one of these books. I was very possessive of these books, but, seeing Jesus in him, I gave it to him, insisting to him though that he use it with great care.

A month later I discovered that this book had been covered with writings and drawings and I became very angered. I wanted that Jesus might show me what I should do and so, in order to confront myself, I went to speak with a companion with whom I share a spiritual walk. He said to me that my friend had forgotten the book on the table in the house; his little sister had written those writings and those drawings. I understood that I should not be attached to a thing that passes and I burned up the anger inside of me.

A few days later I met my friend, who was mortified and did not know how to speak to me about what had happened. I spoke up first to play things down and he told me that he had already recovered the book with a beautiful cover which covered the “fruits” of the talents of his little sister. I said to him that the covering that he found was too nice and we both began to laugh!

(Rindra, India)