When Jesus is asked about the greatest commandment he quotes from the Shema prayer in the Book of Deuteronomy. “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus replied, “The first is this: Hear, O Israel! While the point of the commandment is to love the actual imperative word is “hear.” Jesus is letting us know that loving God and neighbor begins by hearing them. This is the constant message of the Bible. The prophet Hosea said: Thus says the LORD, Take with you words. In Psalm 81 we read: I am the Lord your God: hear my voice. The idea is a basic one. We can’t truly love God until we hear what God is really like — that loves us unconditionally without our doing anything to earn or deserve it. Until we hear that message we aren’t loving who God truly is. And to love our neighbor requires hearing them, hearing their story. There is a French proverb,”to understand all is to forgive all.” In other words, once we hear how people got to become the people they are today, we will be able to love them as they are and not as we wish them to be.
