Today, Catholic Christians celebrate the Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time.
In the Gospel passage we have today from St. Mark (12: 28b-34), we read about Jesus talking with a scribe. When the scribe asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was. Jesus answered him by giving him the Triple Love Command:
“The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Though Jesus told his message in 2 sentences, the second sentences contains two commandments: Love others and love self. Many people, even people who should know better, ignore the “as yourself” of the commandments Jesus gave. That is why I call this the Triple Love Commandment.
It is easy to see why Catholic Christianity has always held that charity, also known as love, is the highest virtue of all.
The photo above shows four former pastors of the parish of San Francisco de Asís in Reitoca. From left to right are: Fr. Ivis Ordóñez, Fr. Gerardo Alberto Vallecillo Murcia, Fr. Alex Mauricio Ruiz Santos, and Fr. Carlos Rubio.