THE ULTIMATE COMMANDMENT   Jesus was asked a great question, what is the ultimate commandment? In His answer, LIFE is found. The ultimate commandment is, "hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." The second is, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” There is no greater commandment than these. (Mark 12:28-31) These commandments of love encapsulates both Eternal Life and an abundant life in the here and now where we temporarily live. Living up to these two commandments is the secret of life. The Law of Moses comprises more than 600 commandments or precepts, but Jesus reveals that they are all summarized in just those two. Jesus said that he who keeps these two commandments is not far from the Kingdom of Heaven. Truly, if we apply them in our daily lives, we shall reach the summit of an abundant life, even in the face of suffering in our temporary home here on earth. Now, what happens to us and what are the results of not honoring these two commandments in our life? The truth is that life becomes chaotic, a path full of pain and death; death of relationships, death of prosperity, death of security. Let us weigh the meaning of the first commandment, to Love God with all our heart, above all things. Here we are taught that, if we love something or someone more than God, we are attached to the earthly and temporal more than to God and the endless. Jesus said, "do not store up treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy them, where thieves break through walls and steal. Layup treasures in Heaven, where moth does not gnaw and rust does not destroy, where thieves do not break through walls and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:19-21) What happens when we lose something or someone? If our treasure was there, we fall apart because of our attachment to it. We allowed that object or person to become our god. This includes our most loved ones; mother, children, spouse, grandparent, great friend. It is very natural to suffer for those we love, but if we honor the first commandment to Love God above our loved ones, we will find strength and comfort in God, who is our Rock and our Infinite Love; this attachment is what Jesus spoke of in Luke 14:26. If God Almighty is our greatest love, therein lies the secret of living in Faith and Hope. Thus, we can understand why the saints gave everything, even their lives because God was their greatest love. This is why we can understand St. Paul when he says, “I can do all things through Jesus, who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). God told the people of Israel on several occasions in the Old Testament not to make false gods, and many…