And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
All Commentaries on Deuteronomy 6:5 Go To Deuteronomy 6
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Whole heart.soul.and strength. God admits of no partner, nor will he suffer any rivulet to be drawn from the fountain of love, which is not ultimately referred to himself. Our neighbour we must love only for his sake, and by the observance of this two-fold precept, we shall fulfil the whole law and the prophets, Matthew xxii. 40. (Haydock) See St. Augustine, de Doct. i. 22.
We must love God disinterestedly for his own sake: we must sacrifice our soul and life for his honour, with all our strength, beginning every good work with fervour, and persevering in our undertakings. All our faculties and senses must be consecrated to the divine service, as well as all our goods; in which sense the Chaldean, understand the word strength. Hebrew literally, ex toto valde tuo. By this singular expression, Moses seems to insinuate, that he cannot find words to specify how much we ought to love the Sovereign Good. (Calmet)
"The measure of loving God, is to love without measure. "(St. Bernard) (Haydock)
By many words, the same thing is more forcibly inculcated. (Tirinus) (Menochius)
In the gospel we find, with thy whole mind, (Luke x. 27,) added by the lawyer. (Haydock)
We must give God the preference before all, and thus have our heart perfect before him, like David (Tirinus)
