Jesus' answer points to the greatest commandment, showing that the essence of the entire Scripture and human life is infinite divine love, from which we must draw to love our neighbours.
The Gospel of Matthew, much like the reading from last Sunday, presents what is happening around Jesus near Jerusalem, in the shadow of the events of Good Friday, as the noose tightens around him and his opponents lay a trap for him. The question was not formulated with a pure intention, since their goal was to put Jesus in a difficult situation and put him to the test. But this question is extremely important for us: which is the greatest commandment in the law?
We know that the Jews had very many rules, laws, and regulations, and the theology of that time also sought what is most important among all of this, what the heart, the core, and the essence of countless laws and rules is. Jesus answers from the richness of God's Word: you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and the second is like it, that you shall love your neighbour as yourself. In other words, the essence of every rule, every law, and every word is love.
If we tried to interpret God's Word or the entire Scripture from any other key, we would lose its meaning. This is extremely important for us, the people of the modern age as well, when we want to understand the sacraments and the teaching of the Church. Here is the key that opens the door and leads us into the mystery that we continually experience in the celebration of the Eucharist: this key is love.
If we go back to the beginning of Scripture at the creation of man, we can ask the question, why did God create everything at all, and why does man exist? The answer is that I do not exist because I would be necessary, but because the fullness of His love called me to life, because I am desired and loved. The reason for creation is love, and this realization is immeasurably liberating.
When we speak about the incarnation of God, why did God become man? To save us and reveal the face of the Father, but behind everything, the driving force is love. Love descended to us, took on flesh, became small and close, and allowed us to touch Him. Jesus also went purposefully to Jerusalem and gave His life because His motivation was love to the very end.
At the Last Supper, Jesus said: I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, and then He washed the feet of the disciples, expressing His love to the very end. The cross itself is the ultimate love, for there is no greater love than when someone lays down his life for his friends. He gives us a new commandment: that we love one another as He has loved us.
The Apostle Paul phrases it this way, that God proved His love in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. When we understand this, it captures our entire heart, soul, and mind. The commandment to love God with all our heart does not start from us, but from Him, because He loved us first with an infinite divine heart without beginning or end.
Therefore, the liturgy is not merely theoretical thinking, but an experience where we taste love so that it may permeate and fill us. God is love Himself, and the Eucharist, the bread and wine in which He gives us His body and blood, is the greatest sign of love. Pope Saint John Paul II called the Eucharist the sacrament of the bride and groom, where we become one with Him.
We cannot love as He has loved if this love does not first permeate our lives. We have received it freely so that we may share it freely. At the end of the celebration, our mission is to go and bring this peace and love into the world. The main difficulty and the drama of the world is always the closing in upon oneself, selfishness, and the incapacity to receive love, which we call sin.
We need Jesus to wash our dirty feet day by day with His mercy, and we too must learn to wash the feet of others in forgiveness. Love for God is fulfilled in care for our neighbour. Let us ask the Lord that through this holy celebration He may open the depths of our hearts so that we may receive the gift of the love of the Eucharist.
Almighty God, You have called us to life with the gift of Your love. Renew us with Your Spirit so that we may live as Your Son, Jesus Christ, teaches us.
AI translation. This text was made with artificial intelligence from the live broadcast of Radio Mir Medjugorje. It may contain small inaccuracies; the homily as preached in Croatian is authoritative.