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Can these three "2nd greatest commandments" be put into one sentence?

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I was playing my homemade Catholic Jeopardy with the Faith Formation class last night and I asked. "What is the 2nd greatest commandment". The kids were all like, "umm obey your parents", "Don't swear", etc... and I just said. "Love your neighbor". Well, just then the Director of Religious Ed. walks in and she just wanted to make sure I added the ..."as yourself" part. I didn't think that was terribly important, she said it was important because teenagers have a hard time seeing themselves as someone loveable. So, I've got a notion that the following three precious words of Jesus are pretty much the same thing: > Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. (Matt 7:12 NABRE) > love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another (John 13:34 NABRE) > You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Mark 12:31 NABRE) What I want to know is: 1. Is is the commandment itself just to love or is the description of how to love wrapped up in the commandment. 2. Do we love each other as Jesus loves us and love our neighbor as we love ourselves. 3. Does 'Do Unto' mean 'Love in this way' 4. If not how does 'Do unto others' fit into the way we're supposed to treat each other? 5. How could I phrase what I meant to say so it encapsulates all three aspects of how we're supposed to love and treat each other and ourselves? I think Pope John Paul II (before he was Pope) wrote in Love and Responsibility something about love your neighbor being more than just 'do unto others', but I'm not sure how. That might be a good starting point though. Since this question is about love, and love is eternal, I'd gladly accept any answer that makes sense from any perspective.
Asked by Peter Turner (34456 rep)
Oct 27, 2011, 04:35 PM
Last activity: Jan 6, 2015, 12:29 PM