First, LOVE GOD ABOVE ALL | HOMILY 25 October 2026 with Fr Jerry Orbos, SVD

At the start of a counseling session, a couple introduced themselves by saying: “Father, I’m Francis, and this is my wife Betty, my calvary.” The wife hastened to say: ‘’Yes Father, this is my husband Francis, my purgatory!”
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In today’s Gospel (Matthew 22:34-40), Jesus sums up all the commandments into two: Love of God, and love of neighbor as oneself. Love is the vision. Love is the mission. Love is the key, the answer to all our problems and questions. With love, we can overcome all our calvaries and purgatories.
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Fr. Jun Ocampo, SVD, our former Filipino missionary assigned in Germany, once wrote that the love Jesus speaks of is not the romantic kind of love that is fleeting and conditional, but a commitment—the steady, disciplined will to seek the good of another. He further notes that the verb “to love” is used 62 times, whereas the noun “love” is used only nine times in the Gospels. In other words, more than a feeling or an emotion, love is an action that expresses itself in deeds. More love. Less selfishness. That’s what the world needs now.
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Forget the big things, the great tomorrows when you intend to do your loving. The time and the place to love is in your present reality, in your here and now. Whatever you do, just remember what Mother Teresa once said: “It’s not what you do in life, but how much love you put into it that matters.”
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The two commandments—to love God to the max and to love one’s neighbor as oneself should not be seen from the legalistic point of view. Rather, the decision to love God and neighbor should be seen as a personal response to God’s love. Unless and until your loving goes beyond that of the Pharisees, then you are missing the point. It is not enough to fulfill these two greatest commandments. They must be fulfilled with a contrite, humble,