LOVE YOUR NEXT AS YOURSELF

 LOVE YOUR NEXT AS YOURSELF
“You will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your intelligence” (Dt 6,4), that is, to love with all the charm, with all the life, spending himself totally for God and using intelligence for the deepest knowledge of the Lord, that is, to be absolutely turned to God. Then, “… and your neighbor as yourself” (Lev 19,18). Faced with the answer, Jesus places himself beyond the reach of the master of the law, agreeing with the answer, but adding an important “Do this and you will live”, that is, the need not only to know, but to put it into daily practice. day, in the daily life of family, community and the world.

2. The Master of Law wanted to justify himself: “And who is my neighbor?”. With this question, he simply demonstrated that his understanding of neighbor was very low, because, like any good Jew, close means a relative, someone from the same community or country and religion. Jesus realizes the limitation of the one who questions Him and gives him the most important lesson about the love of God through the parable of the Samaritan. According to Jesus, close is not someone who is part of the same family, the cycle of friendship, the same community, country or religion. It is not consanguinity or the same nationality that characterizes the neighbor. Such a vision is nothing more than a logic proper to all nations. There is nothing new in this form of action. Next in Jesus' logic is everyone in need and this is universal; it is everyone who needs attention, a hug, advice, food, health, education and security; he is also the one who needs training, knowledge of the truth, expectations and hope. And yet, to be more emphatic, close is the one who, before the needy, makes himself available to him for his good. So, in this case, there is, in addition to what you need, a requirement to be close.

3. The master of the law understood the new teaching. He understood that the Law of God is a gift for the liberation of the human being and that, for that, it requires men and women renewed, according to Jesus Christ, to be authentic instruments of GOD'S INSTRUCTION. That master, after this encounter with Christ, conquered a new way, the most perfect way of transmitting TORAH, because he came to understand the essence of the Law of God. It is clear, therefore, that knowledge of the Law is not enough, but also and, mainly, the most correct way to apply it, which cannot be other than that of the Savior. Jesus Christ is, in itself, the legitimate interpretation of the Law of God, being the fulfillment of it Himself.

4. The next one is "The one who used mercy ...". It is not a matter of favoring in a state of sin. It is not the same as having pity on anyone who sins and keeping him in his sin. It does not mean giving rights to people in serious situations of isolation from themselves and from communion with God, so as not to exclude the other. To act in this way is to preserve the dictates of a world that desires rights, but without commitment, without responsibility and without conversion. To be merciful is to act to save the other. How to save it? Taking care of him in both his physical and spiritual needs. Whoever loves God does not want disgrace either for himself or for others. And there is no greater disgrace than sin. Whoever fights for personal and other conversion is acting in the name of the most important expression of God's love. So, let us take care of each other, do good, correct mistakes, show the horizon of God to those who need to meet Him. This is mercy.
Now, let's go and do the same thing!
A strong and loving hug.
Fr. José Erinaldo