Every word Jesus speaks has weight and is rich in meaning. Jesus says to us today: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. When we read this second great commandment that the Lord gives us, we usually focus on the “love your neighbor” part. Jesus, however, did not just say, you shall love your neighbor. He added two more words — as yourself — and those words are important. Today, let us focus only on what those last two words teach us. Jesus asks us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. That, of course, presupposes that we actually do love ourselves. If we do not love ourselves or if we do not properly love ourselves, it will be impossible to love others as they ought to be loved.

By “loving ourselves,” Jesus certainly does not mean being prideful and selfish. It is not about treating ourselves to gifts and other luxuries. To love ourselves, we must first recognize who we are in the sight of God. How can we possibly love what we do not know? Yet it is clear that many have never known or have lost sight of who we are in the eyes of God. As men and women, we are created in the image and likeness of God. We are icons of the God who created us. As baptized Catholics, we are sons and daughters of our Father in heaven and brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ! Icons of the Trinity. Sons and daughters of the Father. Brothers and sisters of the Lord. That is essentially who we are. That is our identity and it is a precious and beautiful gift given to us. Without a firm grasp and knowledge of who we are in relation to God, it is no wonder that so many today experience a crisis of identity and seek to create their own identities.

In talking to a lot of people — both young and old and in many different states of life — one easily discovers that few people love themselves as God wills us to. So many people at one time or another say: I do not love who I am. I hate myself for something I have done. I cannot forgive myself. I am not a good person. I am not worthy of God’s love. I am not worthy of anything.

There are many reasons why any of us might say those things about ourselves. Often it is because we have some spiritual wound. Maybe you might think those things because you have not experienced the love of another. Maybe you were not loved well by those who should have loved you — a father, mother, brother, sister, or spouse. Maybe someone actually said at some point that you are no good. Maybe someone hurt you in a way that has changed the way you look at yourself. Maybe the sins of your past weigh heavily upon your soul and your mind. Sometimes the wound is inflicted by another and sometimes it is a consequence of our own sinfulness. These wounds, if not given the proper care and attention necessary, cause great spiritual harm.

We cannot possibly love our neighbor if we do not know ourselves and love ourselves. Not only is it difficult to love our neighbor when we let these wounds fester, but it also becomes difficult to love God and therefore fulfill the first and greatest commandment. There is, however, a cure for these wounds, whether they have been inflicted by another or are self-inflicted. God sent his Son, the Divine Physician. We know that this Divine Physician spent His time on earth healing, not only physical illness, but more importantly, spiritual illness. It is this Divine Physician who has the cure to our spiritual wounds. That is why we read in Scripture, by his wounds we are healed. To be healed of our wounds, we must willingly go to the Lord. We need to give Him permission to heal, because He does not force a cure upon us. If you are wounded by sin, go to confession and be healed by the Lord. When we do encounter the Lord, especially in that Sacrament, He reveals to us His healing power, and the healing power of the Father and the Holy Spirit.

The evil one wants us to remain distant from the Lord. Because when we are away from the Lord, we turn inward and become closed within ourselves, remaining in the misery that our spiritual wounds cause us. When we turn to the Lord Jesus, we find in Him the Redeemer and the Savior, or as the Psalmist says today, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer . . . the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. He is the One alone who can free us from our sins and from every evil. He reveals to us the healing power of His Father by teaching us who we are in the Father’s eyes. He shows us that we are truly sons and daughters of God the Father — a Father who created us out of love and for love, and who sustains us in love. Remember the words of Jesus that we sang in the Alleluia Verse today: Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord, and my Father will love him and we will come to him.

Jesus reveals the Father who bestowed such dignity upon us that He made each of us in His image and likeness, and when He first gazed upon His human creation, he said, it is very good. He had already looked upon everything else. The sun was good. The moon was good. The animals and plants were good. Man and woman: very good. He shows us a Father who cannot bear to see His own image and likeness distorted, so He went to great lengths to save us from our wounds and brokenness, by sending His Only Begotten to die on the cross for us. He shows us a Father who has promised His sons and daughters that they will be heirs to the Kingdom of Heaven.

You do not have to go far to find the Lord who will heal. The Lord is Truly Present here with us in this Holy Mass. Jesus Christ is present in the Most Holy Eucharist. To Him we must go to be healed of our wounds and to learn who we truly are. He would not be Present here in such a humble way if he did not love us. See on the altar how you are loved by Him and let Him reveal to you who you truly are. Loved by Him, ask Him to help you to love yourself as He desires you to love yourself. Then and only then will you be able to love your neighbor as yourself.

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