“And behold, a certain lawyer stood up, making trial of him, and saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And he said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answered and said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.” (St. Luke 10:25-37)
In this Gospel reading we see the encounter between Christ and the lawyer; we are drawn into the heart of the Gospel itself—the call to love. The question posed, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”, is not one of spiritual hunger, though it is mingled with the lawyer’s desire to test the Lord. Yet Christ, in His divine wisdom, does not rebuke him but directs him to the Law that he already knows. The path to eternal life, our Lord shows, is not hidden from human understanding; it has been written upon the pages of the Holy Scriptures and, more deeply still, upon the human heart. The lawyer’s reply — to love God wholly and to love one’s neighbour as oneself—unites heaven and earth in a single command. Love is not presented as sentiment, but as the very substance of the divine life into which humanity is called. Our understanding of salvation is precisely this—participation in the life of God through love. To love God with heart, soul, strength, and mind is to surrender the totality of one’s being to Him, that His energies might transfigure every part of our existence. Such love demands not portions of affection but the full consecration of the person to the will of the Creator.
Yet love of God cannot exist in isolation. To love one’s neighbour as oneself is the visible expression of the invisible love of God. The two commandments stand as one, inseparable and mutually interpretive. The Fathers of the Church teach that the image of God is reflected in every human soul; therefore, in the face of every person we encounter, the divine presence confronts us. When we serve the poor, comfort the afflicted, forgive the offender, and guard the dignity of others, we are not performing moral acts alone — we are touching the mystery of God Himself. This calls us to examine the sincerity of our love. It is easy to proclaim affection for the Lord in prayer and song; yet such devotion is hollow if it does not flow outward in compassion, justice, and mercy. Love is tested in the demands of daily life — in patience with those who wrong us, in kindness towards those who cannot repay us, in humility that refuses to exalt itself above another. The heart that truly loves God becomes a vessel of His mercy, seeing the world through the light of divine charity.
The answer to the lawyer’s question is not a doctrine to be memorised, but a way of life to be lived. Eternal life is not a reward granted at the end of existence; it is the present reality of communion with our Lord, entered into through love. When the human heart loves as God loves, freely, selflessly, and without measure, it already partakes of the life that has no end.
The command to love the Lord with all one’s being and one’s neighbour as oneself stands as both law and invitation. It is law, because it defines the divine order by which creation is sustained. It is invitation, because through obedience to it we are drawn into the mystery of divine love itself — the love that is God. We are not called simply to know about God, but to become one with Him through love—the heart lifted in prayer, the hands extended in service, and the soul resting in the peace of the Eternal.
May God bless you +
Fr. Charles
6 October 2025
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