The Most Repeated Commandment: Love Your Neighbor

Last week I went to see the move, “42,” a true story about Jackie Robinson, the first black ball player to play in Major League Baseball.  When Robinson met with Branch Rickey in Brooklyn (spoiler alert) he asked Robinson if he could remain absolutely quiet in facing racial slurs and curses thrown at him.  Could he remain quiet when he would not be allowed in hotels, bathrooms, or restaurants with the rest of his teammates?  Could he remain a gentleman even when pitchers threw at him or runners try to take him out?  Robinson responded, “Are you saying to me not to have the guts to fight back?”  Rickey replied, “I am not asking you to have the guts to fight back, rather the guts not to fight back.”  Robinson stared at Rickey, there was a brief moment of silence and then Rickey said, “Like our Lord and Savior.”  And he continued by adding, “Do you know which commandment is most repeated in the Bible?”  The answer is “Love your neighbor.”

The ability to be quiet in the face of violence against me comes from a deep inner peace that I have with God.  Jesus displayed this inner peace even under the duress of torture and crucifixion.  He uttered not a word against those who beat him and executed him, rather, He forgave them.  He loved them.  Today’s Gospel tells us exactly how much we must love our neighbor.  We must love him like Jesus loves us.

There is only one answer to the world’s violence and injustice, and that is love.  Jackie Robinson took the high road when he began to play in the MLB and he was like a Christ figure, a man who remained quiet in the face of ridicule, racism, and even violence against him.  We live in a world where we are quick to retaliate and to serve up justice.  Has that method brought us peace or has it brought us more violence.

There is something undeniably moving when someone responds to violence with peace; it offers everyone involved a moment of pause, in which I am sure  happened when Jesus was on the Cross.  It makes people wonder, “Was this really the Son of God?”  In today’s world we need more of those moments of pause, moments that help us to look at our neighbor and realize they are children of God as well and I must love them even when they do me harm.

Jesus is very demanding when it comes to love, He demands that we love each other like He loved us.  This does not mean I will love my neighbor only when we get along with one another, when things are going well, or when it is suitable to me, but even when things are not going well, when we are not getting along, and love requires that I do not think of just, “me.”  Love in its very essence does not look within, but it looks without or outside of oneself, asking, “How can I make my neighbor happy?”

Everywhere Jesus, everyone He met, He always shared love with them, even if He had to be firm, He did so not of a sense of defending Himself, He did so because He wanted people to understand God, to understand Truth, and to know what love really meant. 

Our job as Christians is to take what we hear at mass and take it outside of these doors.  The mass is only effective when it is backed up by our living the Gospel and today Jesus challenges us to live the Gospel’s most repeated commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Peace, FJ

Picture is of Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey, probably when he signed his contract.