To Love God, Neighbor, and Self

by Fr. Jess Ty  |  10/25/2026  |  Weekly Reflection

Dear Family of God,

What does it entail to love God above all and your Neighbor as yourself?

Our Human Dignity comes from being created in the image and likeness of God; God loves each one of us into existence. We are not a mistake. In Jeremiah he said: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” (Jer. 1:5).

He knows each one of us by name, each one of us is unrepeatable. We are unique. He created us in His own image and likeness. We are made partakers of his divine nature and are destined for eternal life.

In an average year in the United States, 22,000 people kill themselves, and 100,000 more try. The real cause for such attempts, say the psychiatrists, is a sense of guilt and a desire to punish oneself. G. K. Chesterton says the great lesson of "beauty and the beast" is that a thing must be loved before it is loveable. If we are God's creation, and if we are created like God because He loves us, we must think well of ourselves. We are well-made, we are God's handiwork and we are created like our Creator. There is an important message here - we are to love ourselves. In a day when self-worth is low, in a time when so much introspection is encouraged, and when human nature is looked at with suspicion, we need to say boldly - we are God-made! And let's remember, God makes us well, we are “very good” as God proclaimed right after He created the first two human beings.

May Our Lady of Joy help us to look and accept our identity and mission through God’s design and not of the world.

Yours in Christ through Mary Immaculate.