Ordinary Time 
Pause
And tell me what it is that you see
A world that’s full of endless possibilities
And heroes don’t look like they used to
They look like you do
We are love, we are one
We are how we treat each other when the day is done
We are peace, we are war
We are how we treat each other and nothing more.
“Nothing More” by The Alternate Roots
Listen
“Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
He replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”
Matthew 22:36-40
Think
What are some of the “laws” that your family follows in your household? Clean-up after yourself? Get home by your curfew? Keep your room picked up? Respect each other? Do your chores? In our scripture, an expert in the law asks Jesus what the most important law is to follow. Jesus answers the expert in a way that I don’t think he expected. Jesus says that the greatest law to follow is to love God and love your neighbor. The first “law,” or commandment, that Jesus gives us is easy. It is easy for us to love God. The second one is where it gets a little tricky because Jesus isn’t telling us just to love our family and our friends. Jesus is saying that our “neighbors” include people outside of our family and our friends. Our neighbors include those who we might find difficult to love. Jesus tells us to love them regardless.
Zeke Stephenson
Question to Ponder:
How can you love your neighbor better this week, especially those neighbors who might be harder to love?
Pray
Loving God, your commandment for me is to love my neighbor. I know that my neighbors are not just those who I am closest to, but my neighbors include everyone! Help me to love my neighbors, even those who are more difficult to love. Amen.
Go
In loving your neighbor, may you see everyone as God sees them. May you see each person around you as the image bearer of our Creator. Go in peace to love God and love your neighbor.
