WE HAVE COME to the point in U.S. Christianity when many declare that loving one’s neighbor is optional. I am not sure how anyone can read the Bible and still think that God does not mind if I care less for those who are not my immediate family.
This month’s reflections are all about caring for the other. God’s love is boundless, and we are the recipients of God’s enduring mercy; thus, we can also share a part of ourselves with our neighbors near and far. God’s bountiful love is evident in the stories of Naaman and the good Samaritan. Modern-day prophet Kendrick Lamar’s voice encourages us to be humble and to remember that we are each other’s keepers. Finally, we are invited to reflect on what it means when we hear unwelcome, and horrifying, knocks on doors.
Some public figures have expressed a preoccupation with the order of people whom we are called to love first. By advocating an unnecessary and arbitrary hierarchy, the order of love is distorted into an order of hate. Yes, we love God first as Christians. Such preferential love for God is manifest in how we show God’s love to all. We can do this because the Holy Spirit empowers us to love. If we truly have Christ’s love within us, then the sanctifying grace in us overflows because God’s love knows no bounds. God’s love traverses all concentric circles that we can imagine.
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