The Ten Commandments give us prescriptions in our relationships with God and our neighbor: honoring God, his name and his day and respecting ourselves and our neighbor, honoring our parents, respecting life, property, truth and rights of others.
In today’s Gospel reading Jesus summarizes the Commandments in love of God and love of neighbor.
We have various “formulations” of the same Commandments and the moral law: “Do good and avoid evil” would probably be the most general. One who loves God and neighbor is one who does good and avoids evil. The primary dictate of our consciences is to do good and avoid evil.
St. Augustine wrote, “Love God and do whatever you please, for a soul trained in love of God will do nothing to offend the One who is the Beloved.”
In his letters St. John the beloved Apostle stressed love of God: “If you say, ‘I love God,’ while you hate your brother or sister, you are a liar. How can you love God whom you do not see, if you do no love your brother whom you see? We received from him this commandment: let those who love God also love their brothers.” (1 Jn 4: 20)
Jesus gave a most graphic description of love of God in his account of the Last Judgment in Matthew’s Gospel (Mt 25: 31 – 46): “The King will say to those on his right: ‘Come, blessed of my Father! Take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. For I was hungry and you fed me . . . I was naked and you clothed . . .’ the good people will ask him: ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food . . . or naked and clothe you?’ . . . The King will answer, ‘Truly, I say to you: whenever you did this to these little ones who are my brothers and sisters, you did it to me.'”
Do I love God such that I could do as I please?