Dear brothers and Sisters, the Gospel tells us about a scholar who asks Jesus, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” Jesus answers by quoting the commandment: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind”. But then He adds; The second is like it “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” He concludes that the whole Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.

Notice what Jesus says about the second commandment: it is like the first. He does not say they are identical, but he refuses to separate them. Why? Because the word “like” establishes a profound connection between our relationship with God and our relationship with others. The love we claim to have for God must take shape in how we respond to our neighbor. Love of God is not merely a religious feeling or a profession of faith; it must influence our decisions and become visible in our actions.

Here lies the tension of the Gospel: we want to love God, but we also want to decide for ourselves what that love should cost us. We want to give God our devotion without always allowing that devotion to challenge our comfort, our priorities, and our self-interest.

I was reminded of this, through a personal experience. One day, I was driving from our seminary in Project 8 toward Novaliches. At the traffic light at the intersection of Mindanao Avenue, a young boy selling sampaguita approached my car and knocked on my window. I opened my wallet, hoping to find some coins, but I had only ₱50 and ₱100 bills. I told myself, “I won't buy. ₱50 is too much.” So I drove away. Later that day, a friend offered me ₱2,500. I went home with regret, thinking, “If only I had known I would receive this money, perhaps I would have given the boy ₱50.”

I realized how easily I had calculated what I might lose without seriously considering the person before me. I am not saying that God rewards generosity with money. Sometimes, we stop ourselves from loving when we focus more on what we might lose than what we have to give. Love is not a transaction. Rather, that experience made me ask myself: had my faith truly become an act of love in that moment?

This is precisely why Jesus joins the two commandments. We cannot claim that God occupies the center of our lives if we refuse to let our relationship with him shape our choices. As the Letter of James reminds us, faith without works is dead. Our deeds do not replace faith; they give our faith concrete expression.

The word “like” therefore challenges us to examine the connection between what we profess and what we actually do. The love we offer to the invisible God must take flesh in our response to the neighbor standing before us. Otherwise, we risk keeping our faith in words while withholding from others the love that faith demands.

Jesus brings us back to the heart of the Law: love God with your whole being, and love your neighbor as yourself. The real challenge is not merely to know these commandments, but to allow them to guide our decisions, even in small moments that nobody else may remember.

Dear brothers and sisters, the love of God and the love of neighbor are not two competing obligations. They belong together. And the love we profess with our lips must become visible in the lives we touch. Amen.