An Instruction for the Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. (Mt 22:37-40).

Did all of you, my brothers, listen attentively to today’s Gospel reading? In it, among other things, the Lord Jesus Christ, in answer to a question from a certain lawyer, told everyone which are the chief commandments of the law of God, which every person must know and keep. He said, namely: «love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments,» said the Lord, «hang all the Law and the Prophets». Since the whole law is contained in these two commandments, it is evident that every Christian must know and rightly understand them. What, then, does it mean to love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind? What it means to love God, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself explained to us. He says in the Gospel: «he who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me» (Jn 14:21). He who does not love Me does not keep My commandments. So then, he loves God who unceasingly holds in his thoughts and heart the commandments of God, and keeps them. On the other hand, he loves God with his whole heart who hates lawlessness with his whole heart, as it is said: «you have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness» (Ps 44:8); he loves God with all his heart and all his mind who unceasingly thinks of God as the Creator and Provider, the Savior and Judge of himself and of the whole world, who unceasingly looks toward God; who pleases Him with his whole heart; who prays to Him with his whole heart, at home or in church, and, during prayer, is not distracted by any worldly cares, still less by earthly, and even less by sinful, thoughts; he seeks first of all the Kingdom of God and righteousness (Mt 6:33); he cares, first and above all, for the salvation of his own soul and the souls of his neighbors; in every task he remembers God, and does everything for Him diligently, honestly, and exactly. This is what it means to love God with all one’s heart!

Is this how we live and act? Is this how we love God, who gave us life, and, with life, everything necessary for life and enjoyment; who saved and saves us from sin, condemnation, and death; who is our breath, our light, our strength, our deliverance, our cleansing, our sanctification, our peace, our joy, our Helper and Assistant in every good work? Indeed, no, this is not so! When one looks at our life and our deeds, it seems that many of us have entirely forgotten God, do not love Him at all. I will not name who does not love God and is estranged from God: let each person’s own conscience tell him. Let me continue on to the second commandment of the law; it says: love your neighbor—that is, every person—as yourself. In other words: wish every person as much good as you wish yourself—wish him salvation of soul, as for yourself; success in his affairs, as for yourself; well-being in life, as for yourself; wish him a good name, as you wish for yourself, and never dishonor him, for he too was created in the image of God, just as you were, and a good name is precious to him too; deal with him sincerely, simply, from the heart; in general, as you wish people to act toward you, so act toward them (Mt 7:12). Is this how we act? It is not. We love ourselves, but often do not love our neighbors: we do not wish them good, we envy them; we humiliate our neighbors, dishonor them, revile them; we often do not help our neighbors; we care little for their salvation, as for our own, and by this we daily break and destroy God’s commandments; we provoke the Lord God to anger, and bring down His righteous wrath upon ourselves. Let us hasten to amend ourselves, and let us firmly remember and observe the commandments of God. And so, even now, out of love for our Serbian and Montenegrin brothers, wronged by the impious Turks, let us help further still with our brotherly offerings. Let not your hand or your heart grow weary of good deeds! Good deeds are like good seed: they will yield you a hundredfold harvest. May the Lord grant to all of you an abundance of earthly blessings and the salvation of your souls. Amen.