Homily

The Gospel of this Sunday brings us to the temple in Jerusalem, where Jesus has already addressed the priests, the Pharisees, the Herodians and the Sadducees. Now a scribe, who is part of the debate but in a different spirit from those who preceded him, asks Jesus a real and decisive question: “Which commandment is the first of all?” From it, in fact, all life depends, in its entirety and in its daily unfolding. Faced with a question like this Jesus, does not delay answering. He quotes a passage from Deuteronomy that everyone knew, as it was the profession of faith that the pious Israelites recited daily, morning and evening: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.* 5You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deut 6:4-5). Then he adds: “The second is this, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” The scribe, unlike most of his colleagues there, agrees with Jesus and in answering, as if to prove the continuity of the teaching of Scripture, he quotes a passage from the first book of Samuel: “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that 'he is one, and besides him there is no other'; 33and 'to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength', and 'to love one’s neighbour as oneself”,—this is much more important than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices” (Mark 12:32-33). This scribe is wise and sincere, so Jesus gives him a compliment that each of us would appreciate: “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
But what is the content of the agreement between Jesus and his interlocutor? It is the twofold commandment to love God and neighbour; two commandments, so united as to be one and the same. It is this unity that Jesus points out. The early Christian community had understood it well. The apostle John, as if commenting on the Gospel passage that we heard, writes: “Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters,* are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister* whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. 21The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters* also” (1 Jn 4:20-21). The combination of these two commandments is an original and clear teaching of Jesus, although, as shown in the answer of the scribe, in the Old Testament both love for the One God and love for one's neighbour are already present. The Israelites, in addition to loving God above all things, are also called to love all members of the people, especially the weakest, children, orphans, widows, and foreigners (specific laws were established so that all this might be implemented). But these two loves find their fulfilment in Jesus; they are exalted to higher limits. In him they unite, they come together and identify themselves for they descend from the same Spirit. Jesus is the one who loves, he is the compassionate, the merciful, the only good. He is the man who knows how to love most of all and best of all.
Jesus loves the Father above all things. The Gospel shows the special relationship between Jesus and the Father, a relationship of total dependence. This is the reason for his own life. The apostles were taught by the remarkable confidence and total abandonment that he placed in the Father, to the point that he called Him with the sweet name of “Dad” (Abba). And how many times have they heard that the only purpose in his life was to do the will of God: "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work” (Jn 4:34)! Jesus is truly the greatest example of how we should love God above all things. Jesus loved men and women with the same intensity. For this he “became flesh.” In Scriptures we read that Jesus has loved men so much as to leave heaven (i.e. the fullness of life, of happiness, abundance, peace and comfort) to live among us. And in his life there was like a crescendo of love and passion for men and women, even to the sacrifice of his own life.
But what does it mean to love “as oneself”? In order to understand it we must, indeed, look at Jesus. He knows the meaning of true love for oneself. Often ignorance in this field is remarkable. Sometimes we search for a happiness that is not such, rather it is a superficial well-being being, a freedom which is even more submissive to the slavery of this world. Jesus seems to say: if you withdraw into your selfishness, you do not love yourself; if you are bent on your interests, you cause evil to yourself, you ruin your life; you become sad, and so on. This is what happened to the rich man who refused to leave his riches to follow Jesus. The way to love others as oneself is well explained by other words spoken by Jesus: “Those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel,* will save it Whoever loses his life for my sake and the Gospel will save it” (Mk 8:35), and more: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). Jesus, who first and to the end lived these words, suggests that happiness is to love others more than oneself. These are lofty and arduous words. Who can put them into practice? We must reply that nothing is impossible to God. And in fact, we cannot learn this kind of love by ourselves or on the benches of any human school; on the contrary, in such places, and from an early age, we learn especially to love ourselves and to take care of our business often against others. The kind of love of which Jesus speaks is received from above; it is a gift from God; in fact it is God himself who comes to live in the hearts of men and women. The Holy Liturgy on Sunday is the privileged moment to receive the great gift of love. For this, on the day of the Lord, with joyous gratitude, let us approach the altar. We too, like the wise scribe, will hear the words, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”