Mar 20, 2025 Written by 

Centrality of Love

1. In acknowledging the centrality of love, Christian faith has retained the core of Israel's faith, while at the same time giving it new depth and breadth. The pious Jew prayed daily the words of the Book of Deuteronomy which expressed the heart of his existence: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might” (6:4-5). Jesus united into a single precept this commandment of love for God and the commandment of love for neighbour found in the Book of Leviticus: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (19:18; cf. Mk 12:29-31). Since God has first loved us (cf. 1 Jn 4:10), love is now no longer a mere “command”; it is the response to the gift of love with which God draws near to us..

18. Love of neighbour is thus shown to be possible in the way proclaimed by the Bible, by Jesus. It consists in the very fact that, in God and with God, I love even the person whom I do not like or even know. This can only take place on the basis of an intimate encounter with God, an encounter which has become a communion of will, even affecting my feelings. Then I learn to look on this other person not simply with my eyes and my feelings, but from the perspective of Jesus Christ. His friend is my friend. Going beyond exterior appearances, I perceive in others an interior desire for a sign of love, of concern. This I can offer them not only through the organizations intended for such purposes, accepting it perhaps as a political necessity. Seeing with the eyes of Christ, I can give to others much more than their outward necessities; I can give them the look of love which they crave. Here we see the necessary interplay between love of God and love of neighbour which the First Letter of John speaks of with such insistence. If I have no contact whatsoever with God in my life, then I cannot see in the other anything more than the other, and I am incapable of seeing in him the image of God. But if in my life I fail completely to heed others, solely out of a desire to be “devout” and to perform my “religious duties”, then my relationship with God will also grow arid. It becomes merely “proper”, but loveless. Only my readiness to encounter my neighbour and to show him love makes me sensitive to God as well. Only if I serve my neighbour can my eyes be opened to what God does for me and how much he loves me. The saints—consider the example of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta—constantly renewed their capacity for love of neighbour from their encounter with the Eucharistic Lord, and conversely this encounter acquired its real- ism and depth in their service to others. Love of God and love of neighbour are thus inseparable, they form a single commandment. But both live from the love of God who has loved us first. No longer is it a question, then, of a “commandment” imposed from without and calling for the impossible, but rather of a freely-bestowed experience of love from within, a love which by its very nature must then be shared with others. Love grows through love. Love is “divine” because it comes from God and unites us to God; through this unifying process it makes us a “we” which transcends our divisions and makes us one, until in the end God is “all in all” (1 Cor 15:28).

[Deus Caritas est, nn.1.18]

88 Last modified on Thursday, 20 March 2025 04:26
don Giuseppe Nespeca

Giuseppe Nespeca è architetto e sacerdote. Cultore della Sacra scrittura è autore della raccolta "Due Fuochi due Vie - Religione e Fede, Vangeli e Tao"; coautore del libro "Dialogo e Solstizio".

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Dear friends, the mission of the Church bears fruit because Christ is truly present among us in a quite special way in the Holy Eucharist. His is a dynamic presence which grasps us in order to make us his, to liken us to him. Christ draws us to himself, he brings us out of ourselves to make us all one with him. In this way he also inserts us into the community of brothers and sisters: communion with the Lord is always also communion with others (Pope Benedict)
Cari amici, la missione della Chiesa porta frutto perché Cristo è realmente presente tra noi, in modo del tutto particolare nella Santa Eucaristia. La sua è una presenza dinamica, che ci afferra per farci suoi, per assimilarci a Sé. Cristo ci attira a Sé, ci fa uscire da noi stessi per fare di noi tutti una cosa sola con Lui. In questo modo Egli ci inserisce anche nella comunità dei fratelli: la comunione con il Signore è sempre anche comunione con gli altri (Papa Benedetto)
Jesus asks us to abide in his love, to dwell in his love, not in our ideas, not in our own self-worship. Those who dwell in self-worship live in the mirror: always looking at themselves. He asks us to overcome the ambition to control and manage others. Not controlling, serving them (Pope Francis)
Gesù ci chiede di rimanere nel suo amore, abitare nel suo amore, non nelle nostre idee, non nel culto di noi stessi. Chi abita nel culto di sé stesso, abita nello specchio: sempre a guardarsi. Ci chiede di uscire dalla pretesa di controllare e gestire gli altri. Non controllare, servirli (Papa Francesco)
In this passage, the Lord tells us three things about the true shepherd:  he gives his own life for his sheep; he knows them and they know him; he is at the service of unity [Pope Benedict]
In questo brano il Signore ci dice tre cose sul vero pastore: egli dà la propria vita per le pecore; le conosce ed esse lo conoscono; sta a servizio dell'unità [Papa Benedetto]
Jesus, Good Shepherd and door of the sheep, is a leader whose authority is expressed in service, a leader who, in order to command, gives his life and does not ask others to sacrifice theirs. One can trust in a leader like this (Pope Francis)
Gesù, pastore buono e porta delle pecore, è un capo la cui autorità si esprime nel servizio, un capo che per comandare dona la vita e non chiede ad altri di sacrificarla. Di un capo così ci si può fidare (Papa Francesco)
In today’s Gospel passage (cf. Jn 10:27-30) Jesus is presented to us as the true Shepherd of the People of God. He speaks about the relationship that binds him to the sheep of the flock, namely, to his disciples, and he emphasizes the fact that it is a relationship of mutual recognition […] we see that Jesus’ work is explained in several actions: Jesus speaks; Jesus knows; Jesus gives eternal life; Jesus safeguards (Pope Francis)
Nel Vangelo di oggi (cfr Gv 10,27-30) Gesù si presenta come il vero Pastore del popolo di Dio. Egli parla del rapporto che lo lega alle pecore del gregge, cioè ai suoi discepoli, e insiste sul fatto che è un rapporto di conoscenza reciproca […] vediamo che l’opera di Gesù si esplica in alcune azioni: Gesù parla, Gesù conosce, Gesù dà la vita eterna, Gesù custodisce (Papa Francesco)
To enter into communion with God, before observing the laws or satisfying religious precepts, it is necessary to live out a real and concrete relationship with him […] And this “scandalousness” is well represented by the sacrament of the Eucharist: what sense can there be, in the eyes of the world, in kneeling before a piece of bread? Why on earth should someone be nourished assiduously with this bread? The world is scandalized (Pope Francis)

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