“May the Words and the meditation of my soul be acceptable in your sight, my lord, my god and my redeemer”
Good morning. In today’s Gospel, Jesus is in Jerusalem, near the end of his earthly ministry. Religious leaders question him about the law, and a lawyer asks, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest? Jesus does not become defensive. Instead, he goes directly to the heart of the Law. He answers: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. But Jesus does not stop there. He adds a second commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. These words come from Deuteronomy and are part of the Shema, one of the central prayers of the Jewish faith.
Love, then, is at the heart of our relationship with God and with one another. St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the great theologians of the Church, offers us a helpful way to understand love. He teaches that to love someone is to will their good. In simple terms, love is not only about what we feel; it is also about wanting what is good for another person and acting in ways that support their well-being.
This helps us understand Jesus’ commandments. Loving our neighbors means asking ourselves: What does my neighbor need? How can I help? How can I contribute to another person’s dignity and well-being? Loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind involves our whole lives. It is not limited to Sunday worship, the prayers we say, or the hymns we sing. Our love for God should shape how we treat people, how we respond to those in need, and how we live outside the church.
We see examples of this love in the life of St. James the Less. Through the food pantry in partnership with St. James Fordham, the Breakfast Run in New York City, and the backpack drive, this congregation finds different ways to respond to the needs of our neighbors. Each of these ministries may look different, but they share something important. They remind us that love is not merely something we talk about in church. It is something we practice. When we share food, provide school supplies, or spend time with someone experiencing hardship, we are doing more than meeting a practical need. We are seeking the good of our neighbors and recognizing the dignity of each person.
A meal can help someone who is hungry. A backpack can help a child prepare for school. And taking time to listen can remind someone who feels overlooked that they are seen and valued. These acts may seem simple, but they reflect the heart of Jesus’ commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Our second reading, from Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians, helps us understand this love more deeply. Paul writes to a community he has served, reflecting on how he shared the Gospel with them. He speaks about serving with sincerity and gentleness, without seeking personal recognition. Then he says something especially meaningful: “We were determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves” (1 Thessalonians 2:8).
These words remind us that ministry is about more than delivering a message or completing a task. He and his companions shared their lives with the people they served. They offered their presence, their care, and their affection. Paul teaches us that sharing the Gospel is not only about what we say. It is also about how we treat and relate to people.
This connects with Aquinas’s understanding of love. If love means seeking the good of another person, then we must be willing to look beyond the task in front of us and see the person who is standing before us. The people who come to a food pantry are more than people who need groceries. The people we meet on the Breakfast Run are more than people who need a meal. The children who receive backpacks are more than recipients of donations. Each person has a story, a family, hopes, struggles, and most importantly, gifts.
Christian love calls us to see the whole person.
Paul also describes his ministry through the image of a nursing mother caring tenderly for her children. His words remind us that how we serve matters as much as what we do. We are called to serve with gentleness and respect, without making others feel less worthy and without expecting recognition in return.
Christian love does not place us above our neighbors. It calls us to stand alongside them.
Our outreach ministries are therefore not separate from our spiritual life. They are one way we live the Gospel we proclaim. When we gather for worship, we hear God’s Word, pray together, and receive spiritual nourishment. Then we carry what we have received into our homes, our neighborhoods, and our relationships with others.
In this way, the love we celebrate at the altar becomes visible in the world.
In the second part of today’s Gospel, Jesus asks the Pharisees, “What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They answer that the Messiah is the son of David. That question remains important for us: Who is Jesus to us? Is he only someone we study in Scripture and worship on Sunday, or is he the one who shapes how we live and love? Our answer is revealed not only in what we say about Jesus, but also in how we follow him.
We serve because God has first loved us. We care for others because Christ has shown us the meaning of compassion. We are called to reach beyond our own circles because the love of God is not limited to people familiar with us.
This is also at the heart of our Baptismal Covenant, where we promise to “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves.” That promise reminds us that every person we encounter is worthy of dignity and care. We may not be able to solve every problem or meet every need, but we can offer our time, share what we have, listen with compassion, and work together to build a community where people are treated with respect.
St. James the Less ministry outreach is an example of how this promise becomes real in the life of this congregation. These ministries remind us that all of us have a part to play in making God’s love known. So, as we reflect on today’s readings, perhaps the questions for us are these:
How is God’s love becoming visible in my life?
When I serve my neighbor, am I offering only what I have, or am I also willing to offer something of myself?
For some of us, the answer may be participating in outreach. For others, it may be caring for a family member, visiting someone who is sick, reaching out to a lonely neighbor, or welcoming someone who feels like an outsider. We do not all serve in the same way, but we are all invited to live the same commandment: to love God and to love our neighbors.
Thomas Aquinas reminds us that love seeks the good of another. Paul reminds us that Christian ministry means sharing not only the Gospel, but also ourselves. And Jesus calls us to make this love the foundation of our lives. As we gather around this altar, may we remember that the love we receive from Christ is the love we are called to share. May our prayers lead us toward compassion, our worship prepare us for service, and our faith inspire us to recognize Christ in the people we meet.
Amen