“Someone asks Jesus: “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
Jesus answers: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind… and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Perhaps these words become even more meaningful in the situation we are facing today.
Many families are suffering because of floods and increasingly unpredictable weather. Sometimes the rain is too much; at other times, the heat becomes unbearable. Many are also struggling financially. Prices of food, fuel, electricity, and other basic needs continue to burden ordinary families, made worse by conflicts and instability abroad, including in the Middle East.
In times like these, Jesus reminds us of something very simple: Love God, and love your neighbor.
Love God by caring for what God has created.
We cannot say that we love the Creator while being careless with His creation.
When floods come, we naturally ask what government and other institutions are doing. Those are legitimate questions. But we should also ask ourselves: What am I doing?
Where do I throw my garbage? Do I unnecessarily use and waste resources? Do I help protect our rivers, trees, mountains, and watersheds? Do I contribute to the problem or to the solution?
Climate change and environmental destruction can sound like very big issues. But Christian responsibility begins with small choices.
Caring for creation is not separate from loving our neighbor. When we destroy the environment, it is often the poor who suffer first and suffer most.
Love your neighbor by noticing who is struggling.
When prices rise, the same ₱1,000 buys less food than before.
For some of us, that means adjusting the budget. But for a poor family, it may mean choosing between food, medicine, transportation, electricity, or a child’s school needs.
This is where today’s Gospel becomes concrete. Jesus does not simply say, “Feel sorry for your neighbor.” He says, “Love your neighbor.”
Perhaps you have a little extra food—share it.
Perhaps you know someone whose house was flooded—help them clean up.
Perhaps an employee or worker is struggling—be considerate.
Perhaps a family member is worried about bills—listen before judging.
Perhaps you have more than you need—simplify your life so that someone else may simply live.
In difficult times, love must become practical.
Difficult times should bring us closer, not drive us apart.
When resources become scarce and life becomes difficult, there is a temptation to think only of ourselves. But Jesus teaches us another way. “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Notice: Jesus does not say to forget yourself. He says to widen your concern. The hunger of my neighbor should matter to me. The flooded home of another family should matter to me. The anxiety of a parent who cannot make ends meet should matter to me.
We may not be able to solve the climate crisis. We may not be able to stop wars abroad or control the prices of commodities. But we can make sure that nobody around us suffers alone.
We will run out together
There is a story told of a village struck by a terrible flood. One family had managed to save a sack of rice. It was not much, and they did not know how long it would last.
Then the father noticed that the family next door had lost everything.
He told his children, “We will divide our rice with them.”
One child asked, “Papa, what if we run out?”
The father answered, “Then we will run out together. But tonight, nobody beside our house will sleep hungry.”
Final Words
My dear brothers and sisters, that is today’s Gospel. Love of God is not proven only by how beautifully we pray when we are inside the church. It is proven by how generously we love when we step outside it.
When the floods come, let love flow. When the heat becomes unbearable, let us protect creation. When prices rise, let us share. When people are anxious, let us listen. When someone is struggling, let us not look away. Because especially in difficult times, the greatest commandment remains the greatest response: Love God, and love your neighbor.”