Holy Father Pope Francis while addressing the faithful gathered at St. Peter’s Square, spoke on the Gospel reading for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time and in the day’s Gospel, Jesus is asked, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” His Holiness explained this question as insidious because he highlighted that there were more than six hundred precepts in the Old Testament but Jesus answered the question without any hesitation: “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.”
As reported by Vatican radio, Holy Father Pope Francis remarked that “In answering the Pharisees who had posed the question, Jesus sought to help them put their religious devotion in the right order; to help them understand what truly matters and what is less important.” Further, His Holiness added, “In fact, Jesus’ own life was an example; His words and actions showed what was truly essential: Love and love gives impetus and fruitfulness to life and to the journey of faith: without love, both life and faith remains sterile.”
His Holiness concluded his message by reminding that it is only through Lord’s grace it is possible to receive within oneself the capacity to love and emphasized that it is precisely for this reason that Jesus offers Himself to us in Holy Communion.
