Exodus 22:20-26 / 1 Thess 1:5-10 / Matthew 22:34-40
All things have a shape and a colour.
By the shape and the colour, we would generally be able to identify what the object is.
Though some things may look a bit similar initially, but upon closer inspection we would be able to make the differentiation.
For example, a rose and a carnation may look alike from afar, especially if both are red in colour. But a closer look will tell the difference.
But generally speaking, most things can be identified by their shape and colour.
And our ideas and concepts are also influenced by these shapes and colours.
When we talk about love, the shape of love that might come to our minds is the shape of a heart.
So in celebrations of love, like marriage, there will be heart shapes all over, from balloons, to the cut-outs, and maybe even the shape of the cake.
And usually the colour of love is red, to signify the power and the passion of love.
So a red-coloured heart shape would generally mean love.
In the gospel, the Pharisees ask Jesus this question: Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?
It is not that the Pharisees don’t know the answer. They know the Law through and through.
But they asked Jesus this peculiar question to disconcert Him. They just wanted to ruffle Him, and to make Him perturbed and disturbed, so that they could catch Him on something wrong that He might say.
Nonetheless, Jesus gave them a straightforward answer, and in the process He also make them think about their understanding of the commandment of love.
Similarly, the question of the Pharisees and the reply of Jesus would make us think about the commandment of love.
As Jesus said: You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. And you must love your neighbour as yourself.
That is clear enough for us to understand. But when we think deeper about it, it may not be that easy to put it into practice.
When we think of love, we think of red coloured hearts, with all the ribbons and roses.
We like to think of love in a romantic way, love that is beautiful, love that is soft and warm.
Yes, when we think of love, we think of a red-coloured heart.
And that is also the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
But when we look at the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we will notice the cross on top of the Heart, and also a crown of thorns around the Heart, and also the Heart was pierced and bleeding.
These are images of pain and suffering and they are there in the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
That image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus tells us that God’s love for us came at a price.
Jesus suffered, died on the cross and His heart was even pierced with a lance, to tell us that God’s love for us is a sacrificial love, and that sacrifice was made by Jesus on the cross.
That would tell us that if we truly want to love God and to love our neighbour as ourselves, then a sacrifice has to be made.
The people that we are called to love may not look like little red hearts with ribbons and roses.
If we say we truly love God, then He may not send us the people that we want to love, but the people that needed to be loved.
These people may take the shape of a heavy cross and painful thorns that will pierce our hearts.
But love is beautiful and powerful. If we truly love God, then God will fill our hearts with the power of His love to love those that needed to be loved.
Let us look at the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Let us meditate on the beauty of the love that flows from His Heart.
And then let us go forth to love those that God wants us to love.