English poet Leigh Hunt tells a story about a man named Abou ben Adhem. Abou woke up one night to the vision of an angel writing in a book. He asked the angel what he was writing and the angel said, “the name of those who love the lord.” “Is my name among them?” asked Ben Adhem. The angel shook his head, “Sadly not so.” “Then,” Ben Adhem replied, write my name as one who loves his fellow men. The angel did so and vanished. The next night the angel reappeared and showed the names of those who love God, and Ben Adhem’s name led all the rest.
The point of course is that love of God and love of our brothers and sisters is inseparable. We cannot have one without the other. It has been said that if we truly live God’s first commandment, that we will put no other God before Him but worship Him alone, then all the other nine commandments take care of themselves.
There are those who try to separate love of God from love of fellow human beings. Jesus shows us today that love of God and love of neighbor are two sides of the same coin.
There was a time when Christians were distinguished by their love. Imagine a world when once again our love for God was reflected in our love for each other. When once again it was said of us “Look at those Christians, see how they love one another.”
Pax Vobiscum.
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
illustration by Edmund Joseph Sullivan (1869-1933)