During the Angelus prayer on October 29, Pope Francis reminded believers to live out the “great commandment of love” and emphasized that we must gain strength from the love of God and His Son, Jesus, in order to truly love others. . To this end, the Pope also pointed to examples of humility in the lives of great saints, such as Mother Teresa of Calcutta. The saints are “drops” that reflect God’s love.
(Vatican News) Love God and love others above all else. This is the greatest commandment from which all other commandments flow and therefore receive their greater meaning. This is what the Pope emphasized in his speech before leading the believers in reciting the Angelus on Sunday, October 29, when explaining the “issue of the greatest commandment” of the day’s Gospel (see: Mt 22:34-40) of. The Sunday Gospel of that day records that the scholars of law asked Jesus which commandment in the law was the biggest question in order to test Jesus.
God’s love precedes our love
In his speech, the Pope first repeated the words of Christ in reply to the jurists: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind… You shall love your neighbor as yourself” and emphasized that “Love God and Love of neighbor” is “indivisible.” The Pope then invites the faithful to reflect on the two aspects of this commandment, starting from the teachings of God’s love for us.
“First,” the pope said, “the fact that we put love for God first reminds us that God always goes before us. He treats us first with infinite tenderness, care and kindness, because he always Care, tenderness and kindness. Children learn love at the knees of their parents, and we learn love in the arms of God.”
God gives us the power of love
The Pope then pointed out that man gains the power and ability to love from his encounter with God. “There we meet love and are urged by love to give ourselves generously. St. Paul reminds us of this, ‘For the love of Christ compels us to love’ (2 Corinthians 5:14). Everything begins with Him . If you don’t have this root, which is the love of God, the love of Jesus, you cannot love others sincerely.”
Show God’s love to your neighbor
The Pope then spoke of the second aspect of the commandment of love expounded by Christ. “This connects love of God with love of neighbor,” the pope said, “meaning that by loving our brothers and sisters, we are like a mirror reflecting the love of the Father. Reflecting the love of God, this That’s the core; loving Him who is invisible to us by loving our brother who is visible.”
Mother Teresa’s Character
Citing the example of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the Pope explained that Mother Teresa did not show any ambition to change the world, but wanted to be “a drop of clean water in which the love of God shines.” “Look,” the pope said, “she is so small and can do such great good.”
The Pope therefore urged the many faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square to look at this small drop and the example of other saints, emphasizing that we are all called to reflect God’s love. “How to do it?” said the Pope: “Just take the first step, always. Sometimes it is not easy to take the first step. Forget everything else, take the first step – let’s do it. That’s what a drop of water is: taking the first step.”
Be grateful to God
Finally, the Pope asked the faithful: “Am I grateful to God who first loved me? Do I feel God’s love and thank Him? Do I strive to reflect His love? Do I try my best to love my brothers and sisters and step out What about this second step?”
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2023-10-30 12:11:33
