Each of us have some practices, or preferences, that we often subscribe to for our directions in life.
We can call them principles or mottos, and these can keep our desired habits or choices on track so that we can have a consistency.
So it can be "health is wealth" or "where there is a will, there is a way" or "practice makes perfect", etc.
The 1st reading reiterates the fundamental Christian principle of life, and that is "You must love your neighbour".
Indeed, love is the one thing that cannot hurt our neighbour, and so that is why it is the answer to every one of the commandments.
But we also know that to love our neighbour is easier said than done.
Some of those neighbours are like crosses, and some of those crosses are heavier than others.
In the gospel, Jesus says that anyone who does not carry his cross and come after Him cannot be His disciple.
We are called to carry our cross and to be disciples of love.
It was with love that Jesus carried His Cross and died on it.
Let us carry our cross with love for God and neighbour. Let that be our fundamental principle of life.