“When has the love shown to you by a neighbor helped you to see God better?” In today’s gospel text, Jesus leans on teachings very old and familiar to achieve something completely new. Much earlier in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus had declared that he has come not to “abolish the Law or the Prophets…but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). In this text from Matthew 22, we gain a deeper understanding of what such a fulfillment looks like.

When Jesus is asked which commandment in the Law is the greatest, he noticeably does not produce a new commandment or saying. Rather, he reaches into the Hebrew scriptures and brings together two familiar passages. For Jesus, these two central commandments provide a lens through which to interpret the whole law. Love of God and love of neighbor stand at the heart of Jesus’s teaching and ministry, as well as at the heart of the life to which he calls each of those who follow him.

· Are there ways or places or practices in which you find it easy to love God through your neighbour? Where is it more difficult?

· When has the love shown to you by a neighbour helped you to see God better?

· How do you see the call to love God and neighbour as extending beyond the human family? What are some examples that come to mind in your everyday life?

Prayer: Gracious God, we thank you for our time together today. Thank you for our time together today. As we leave this place, help us to love you with our heart, soul, and mind and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Amen.