Divine Relationship

“What do we hear? Not only the moral recommendation, don't, dont oppress aliens, but something even, even deeper, more abiding. Mainly, this empathy with the suffering of others.”

“Christ alone reflects God’s transcendent beauty; Christ alone communicates God’s perfect and creative love – and indeed he does so most perfectly on the Cross to which his enemies condemn him”

“To love our fellow human beings, as well as love God, requires utmost honesty!”

“We can’t be commanded to love just anything, but we can be commanded to love God and our neighbour. And this is because to love God and our neighbour is the ultimate purpose for which everyone of us was made.”

“Love is just not about what or who is in front of you – it is about what is in your heart and what you do, and how you speak when others are not around, or directly in front of you”

“And you can’t love your neighbour on your own at home. You have to go out and find your neighbour. Find those who need help, and work and worship with those who want to do the same.”

“But, somewhere in between Lust and Lurve is love. The kind that Jesus talks about in today’s gospel.”

“This command to love God has to involve love in action, rather than just feelings. Jesus embodied this in his resolute journey to the sacrifice of the cross.”

“How much do I love the person I love least? That, answering that question is a litmus test. It gives us a general sense of where our relationship with God is. Because Jesus does not separate God and our neighbor, nor ourselves.”

“The love of God conduces to the love of neighbor, it dovetails with it because Christ is both divine and human”

“At the very least, we are to do no harm. At our best, we are to love them as ourselves. Is it easy? Not always. But it is possible with God’s grace.”

“Do I love God first and most? What does love God first look like when I am considering contemporary social issues?”

“Our love for God is made manifest and felt in practical ways in the style and manner in which we relate with those around us. This love is not an option to choose but a binding command for those who wish to retain their identity as the children of God.”

“It is the spirit who energizes the migrant to venture out to the unknown and it is the Spirit who welcomes the migrant to the new territory.”

“Packed away in this short scene is the unpalatable truth that we too must take up our crosses if we are to love, and so worship God in spirit and in truth”

“Do we spend most of our time, energy and effort in life on ourselves first, our family and other people second, and then whatever is left over we spend on our relationship with God? Isn’t God worth more than our left overs?”

“Though we don’t often feel it and sometimes would like to reject the idea, we are connected to all. Our love for ourselves should be healthy and strong, and it should be extended into our love for others.”

“Almsgiving restores our love for our neighbours. In giving alms we are constantly expanding our hearts to love not just members of our family, not just our friends, but complete strangers.”

“If we are really in the business of loving God and neighbour, we shall need the power and victory of the Messiah. It is not enough to have a humanistic ethic.”

“God loves with a special love those who are most in need of love, and therefore so should we”

“But social justice stands at the heart of biblical religion”

“What in your gut is your life about? That's what worship refers to.”