THE TWO GREAT COMMANDMENTS

“Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

(Matthew 22:36-40)

If we are being honest with ourselves, we don't love God. Certainly not with all of our heart, with all of our soul and with all of our mind.

We love ourselves more than anything. We love created things that we hope will bring us happiness and provide us with the comforts and consolations that we desire in this present life and in the condition we find ourselves in.

We don't really believe in God or that there is a higher life that we are called to, a life where we share an intimate and symbiotic relationship with a real and living God, a life where, whatever we Intend comes into being instantaneously.

Or, if we do believe in God, it's only a thin veneer on the surface of our being. We pay lip service to our faith in God while our actions put the lie to our shallow words.

And as for loving our neighbor? Well, as long as they make us feel good about ourselves, make us happy, give us pleasure - sure!

But actually, we would prefer simply to be left alone to do what we want to do. And should anyone get in the way of what we want for ourselves, God help them!

This is why it can be helpful to have a form to work through for our spiritual life, especially one that is designed to remind us of these things that we so easily forget, and to put us in the way of the Grace of God which is what brings about our Transformation and Transfiguration.

The Divine Sacraments in particular, which open for us the way to possibilities that are not of this earth, forming, purifying and developing the unseen part of our being, help us towards salvation and are of incalculable value to us.

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