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By Father Jerry Pokorsky Special to the Rappahannock News
Love appeals to everyone. We are consumed with the affections of love in our popular songs, in our movies, in our daily lives. Some may say, to coin a phrase, that love just happens. Others might say that we don’t know what love is, but we know it when we see it or feel it. But if love is so spontaneous, why is there such a shortage of love? Why is it necessary for the Lord to “command” us to “love God” and to “love neighbor”?
The love of neighbor might seem easy to identify. On the surface, it is easy to know and feel, for example, that “I love my mother” or “I love my spouse.” But as time unfolds and affections subside, we must ask tough questions. In difficult circumstances, how can spouses be sure that they are being guided by true love and not by hidden selfish motives? Can the pain of parental discipline be compatible with love?
Sometimes the question, “What is love?” has life or death consequences. Is Dr. Kevorkian on the side of true love and compassion when he injects his patients with serums of death?
Is it true love to withhold ordinary care to hasten the death of a loved one in terrible pain?
The teaching and ministry of Christ — which echoes and fulfills the laws of the Jews — helps clear up the confusion.
Christ shows us the way of true love when he commands us to love God and love neighbor.
The two commands are intertwined. Our love of neighbor is guided and strengthened by our intention to love God.
Christ provides the litmus test: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
We express our love for
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