20th Week in Ordinary Times : Friday, 21st August 2026

As Christians, we are familiar with the Ten Commandments. They form the basic framework of our living faith and the lenses through which we engage the world in the people we meet, live and interact with. Thus, when Jesus was asked which is the greatest commandment of all, He cited the first commandment that categorically places God in the centre of our living faith.

This explains the “how” of that loving: to love with one’s heart, soul, and mind implies that the love is felt, intentional, all-encompassing and consciously-lived. As the trinity of the heart, soul, and mind is inseparable, so too is the believer’s existential love for God.

If we assent to this, then it is only logical that we must also love other human beings as we love ourselves. This is because we cannot claim to love God (whom we cannot perceive with our senses), yet hate our brothers and sisters (whom we can perceive with the same senses) for the Spirit of God dwells in them just as it lives in us. This does not mean that we must like all our brothers and sisters.

Inevitably, there will be some people whom we like or favour, and others whom we find it hard to befriend. When Jesus asks us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, He asks us to treat everyone with dignity, and strive to forgive them. If Jesus could love and forgive His persecutors, so could we.

PRAYER Jesus, I want to do Your Will.