I learned something new over the past few weeks. The Sunday readings of the past few weeks are known as the Bread of Life Discourse. This is the portion of Jesus’ teaching that is found in Chapter 6 of John’s gospel. According to my pastor, the discourse serves as a reminder of who God is, who we are, and what we are called to do. In my simple mind, the Bread of Life is to provide the nourishment to help us carry out that which God calls us to do.

In today’s reading, Matthew tells us about how the Pharisees asked Jesus which commandment is the greatest to which Jesus replies: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”  He goes on to share the similar second commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

As I reflect on these most powerful and challenging directives, the first one is the ultimate. It’s almost as though we are to give back the love God has for us.  That is a lot of love, but it sounds easy, right? I mean, what could be so difficult about loving God? I’ve had several conversations with a dear friend over the last 8 months.  This friend is an incredible woman of faith. She is kind, thoughtful, hard-working, generous, and selfless.  She is struggling. You see, she lost her high school sweetheart husband to an extremely aggressive brain tumor.  She and her boys were devastated! Her husband recorded a testimony about how at peace he was with his impending death because he knew he would soon meet Jesus. It was really something to witness. His strength helped his family long after he was gone. Fast forward ten years…very unexpectedly my friend met a man. His faith was especially important to him and got him through the loss if his wife eleven years earlier from the same kind of brain tumor that took my friend’s husband. They became fast friends, and eventually married. We were all convinced that God had a hand in this union. They were so happy! Four years into their marriage, my friend endured the sudden loss of a spouse for the second time. Her heart is broken. She is struggling to understand why this happened yet understands that there is more waiting for her after this life and she is happy that her dear one is with his Lord and Savior. Have there been days that it has been hard to love the Lord—I would say yes, my friend would say “No way, we must trust in His plan.”  She is such a notable example for me and so many others.

Now what about the second commandment, loving our neighbor as ourselves? To me this is the tough one. Even though God sent his son to show us how this is done, our humanity gets in the way. St. Teresa of Calcutta makes it seem simple and connects our ability to do this to Peace…something our world is in desperate need of. Take a few minutes to think about St. Teresa’s words and pray for the strength to love as God commands us.

“Works of Love are Works of Peace.”  ---Mother Teresa of Calcutta