Today is the feast day of San Martín de Porres of Peru, the illegitimate son of Anna Valezquez, a formerly enslaved Afro-Panamanian woman and a Spanish nobleman who abandoned the family after the birth of Martín’s younger sister. Martin He is the first person of African descent in America to be declared a saint.

While Martin is said to have had miraculous powers of bilocation, the ability to communicate with animals, and to heal, service was his specialty. Once he met a beggar in pain and took him to his own bed in the monastery. When the superior reprimanded him for allowing a dirty and contagious stranger into the cloister, Martin responded that he could wash sheets easily, but he did not blame her for ignoring the poor. Without noticing the difference between his rank as a brother and that of his superior, Martin responded: “Compassion is preferable, dear brother, to cleanliness.” Martin could be a good interpreter of today’s Liturgy of the Word.

In our reading from Deuteronomy, we hear one of many versions of Moses instructing the people about God’s law. While there are over 630 mitzvot (commandments) in the law, Moses summarized them with the “Shema,” the prayer/creed we hear today that begins: “Listen, Israel!” This creed reminds all who proclaim it that when they put their whole heart into the love of God, their primary desire will be to act in the name of God at all times and circumstances. Today’s gospel makes it more concrete.

One day, some Pharisees and Sadducees were debating with Jesus about taxes and the circumstances under which a man could get rid of his wife. An anonymous scribe (an official with legal power to transcribe and promulgate biblical and legal documents) approached Jesus and asked him about the greatest of all commandments. As a scribe, he knew the law better than most. Was it sincere? Testing Jesus? Trying to get your point across in front of a crowd? Who knows? No matter, Jesus improvised Moses’ teaching. He recited the Shema and interpreted it, specifying that this love of neighbor is so similar to the love of God that they are inseparable and summarize all the dimensions of a God-fearing life.

Agreeing with Jesus, the scribe took Jesus’ side in the earlier debates. Unlike the Pharisees, who sought to protect the faithful from any appearance of mixing with foreigners, including paying taxes (Mark 12:14-17), the scribe agreed that love was the only fundamental commandment. Unlike the Sadducees, members of the upper class who oversaw temple sacrifices, he agreed that love eclipses any kind of sacrifice or ritual. By implication, the scribe who had the responsibility of writing divorce decrees was also with Jesus on the issue of the mutual responsibility of husbands and wives (Mark 12:18-27). In a rather ironic exchange, the scribe congratulated Jesus on his interpretation of the Law and Jesus claimed that the scribe was not far from the kingdom of God.

Moses, the scribe, and Jesus shed light on the current selection of Hebrews. The author, presumably Paul’s co-worker. priscillapoints to Christ as the supreme and final priest and sacrifice. The sacrifice of Jesus? Offering itself to humanity and remaining forever as a path for humanity to find God.

Saint Martin, porter, barber-surgeon, healer and friend of the poor. It was never ordered. He was a brother whose life he preached in a way that few have done, or would even wish to do. He understood that love for God implies love for everyone and everything that God loves. He understood that love for Christ implies giving oneself without reservation for those loved by God. More than one of his brothers and contemporaries were irritated by his freedom to put the law of love above all religious practices and restrictions. He offered a terrifying example because, like Jesus, he went where the Spirit led him rather than just “how it should be done.” He made the word of God as real and effective as a two-edged sword. (Hebrews 4:12)

What could Saint Martin tell us today about the love of God and neighbor?

If you were writing in English, you might tell us to capitalize the word Neighbor, recognizing that we find God’s love, needs, and prophecy in others. It might remind us that in our rush to complete important work or be respectable, we can overlook the fact that compassion is far more important than achievement or respect for the law, no matter the goal.

Although Martin would never say it, he was an icon of Christ, a living and loving embodiment of everything it means to be the body of Christ. As we approach the American elections, I would encourage us to ignore our reputations and our fears as we devote all our hearts, souls, and strength to the love of God and neighbor.