- Scripture: Mark 12:30-31 –– Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
- Meditation: Our faith’s call to love extends beyond ourselves to everyone around us. As we celebrate Christmas Eve and the arrival of Christ, what is one way that we can again show care and compassion for those beyond our immediate family and friend group? How do we understand, more fully, that every person is a child of God?
- Spiritual Practice: Greet a stranger. Exchange names. Allow yourself the chance to meet a neighbor or get to know someone in your community better today.
SONGS:
- Neighbor by JJ Heller: https://youtu.be/F9YaTgiIH20?si=vaw6NvL7NPxmoozi
You are obliged to love your neighbor as yourself, and loving him, you ought to help him spiritually, with prayer, counseling him with words, and assisting him both spiritually and temporally, according to the need in which he may be, at least with your goodwill if you have nothing else. — St. Catherine of Siena
The only time you should look in your neighbor’s bowl is to make sure that they have enough. You don’t look in your neighbor’s bowl to see if you have as much as them. — Louis C.K.
What you must do is love your neighbor as yourself. There is no one who knows your many faults better than you! But you love yourself notwithstanding. And so you must love your neighbor, no matter how many faults you see in him. — Martin Buber
In the Spirit which draws us into honest engagement with one another, including those who may be very different from us in various ways, God calls us to wake up and learn how to love and respect one another, period. — Carter Heyward