“Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God,
with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today.
Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest.
Bind them at your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead.
Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.”
The above prayer from the 6th Chapter of Deuteronomy is one of the most revered prayers in Judaism. It starts out with the Shema. Declaring the the God of the Israelites is One. There is no other. The following portion is called the V’ahavta, which translates as “And you shall love”. It is the first of the two great commandments which Jesus says summarizes all of the Law. The second being that “you shall love your neighbor as yourself”. It is a beautiful prayer but it is even more beautiful as a song. There was a cantor at the synagogue we went to in the Chicago area who sang a version of this song, authored by a musician named Julie Silver. It made such an impact on me that I decided, much to the chagrin of my eldest daughter, to sing it at her wedding ceremony. Her and her first husband split up a year later. I am still not certain if it was my rendition of V’ahavta that was the cause of their breakup. I include Julie Silver’s version here for your enjoyment.
So what exactly is love. We are told we are to love our neighbor. Love our enemies and to love ourselves since if we do not love ourselves then we cannot possibly love our neighbor. But, above all, we are to love God. How do we do that? I think that is best served by looking at St. Augustine’s definitions of the different types of love:
- Amor (Self-Love/Disordered Love):.Augustine viewed amor as a love rooted in self-interest and earthly desires. This includes desires for material possessions, physical pleasures, and worldly status. He believed that an excessive focus on amor leads to unhappiness and spiritual separation from God.
- Caritas (Charity/Selfless Love):.Caritas, or charity, is the love that Augustine believed should guide human actions. It is a selfless love directed towards God and neighbor, motivated by a desire for the good of others and a recognition of their inherent worth. Augustine saw this as a reflection of God’s own love, which is selfless and unconditional.
- Love of God (Amor Dei):.Augustine placed the love of God (amor Dei) at the center of his theology. He believed that the human soul is created with an inherent desire for God, and that true fulfillment can only be found in loving and uniting with God.
- Love of Neighbor (Dilectio Proximi):.Augustine emphasized the importance of loving one’s neighbor as oneself. He saw this love as a reflection of God’s love and a necessary component of a virtuous life.
A commonality of all these forms of love is the idea of sacrifice. In Caritas, Amor Dei and Dilectio Proximi the requirement is always first a denial of one’s own interests. To turn your attention to another. Towards God and towards your neighbor. In Amor that attention is directed inward. Towards yourself. The desire to accumulate materials goods and internal pleasures. Often at the expense of others. Love focused on passion uses another person for your own interests. Love focused on possessions leads to viewing others as a means to your own end. As St. Augustine states, this is a Disordered view of love. Passion attracts a man and a woman to each other. But it by no means leads to the type of love that keeps them together for a lifetime. For that, each partner must place the needs of the other person before his own. If you hate bicycle riding, but your wife loves it, go bike riding with her. And if she hates riding on the back of your motorcycle, and she does it anyway, recognize what she gave up for YOU. A little self-talk here. Can you tell?
It is sacrifice that differentiates true love from a love that centers on self-interest. In this reading from Deuteronomy we are told to love God with ALL our heart, soul and strength. And in order to do this we must sacrifice to ourselves. We sacrifice our time on Sundays to worship. We sacrifice breakfast before Mass so that we can properly receive Jesus in the Eucharist. We sacrifice language that denigrates the name of our Lord, Creator and Savior. And we sacrifice worship of other gods (power, pleasure, honor and wealth as Father Burke Masters likes to say).
And Deuteronomy tells us to DRILL, yes drill, these lessons into our children. Speak of God’s words always. When you rise up, lie down. At home or abroad. It means that when we are on vacation, we don’t take a vacation from God. Find a church nearby and attend Mass. We are called to sacrifice time. Show our children and others just what is most important.
This verse of scripture is why some Jews have a small box bound to their foreheads and arms with straps called Tefillin. Why they place the 10 commandments in a box called a mezuzah to the door posts of the entrances to their homes. As a reminder of priorities. That God comes first in all things. That we sacrifice ourselves for the good of our children, for the good of our neighbors and for our proper relationship with God.
