Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all
your mind. This is the first and the most important of the commandments. The second is like it: You
shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets are founded on these two
commandments.”
Reflection:
The third encyclical of Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti, was released when the entire world was suffering
through the Covid-19 pandemic, bewildered, helpless, and clueless. It was also a time (and it still is)
when hypernationalism, narrowing of boundaries, rejection of migrants, extreme polarization in national
discourse, religious persecution, etc., were on the upswing. The world felt like the dry bones in the vision
of Ezekiel. We felt dead. Life was sucked out of us, literally and figuratively. What can bring us back to
life? The readings of the day tell us that a return to the ways of love – loving God and loving neighbor as
ourselves – alone can put on sinews, flesh, and skin back on the dry bones and breathe life into them.
Love alone can triumph over the power of death: Placing God right at the center of our lives and then
practicing fraternity and social friendship with all, transcending boundaries and sharing resources, as the
encyclical advices us.
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