Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

If I could tell the love of God, I’d sing of beauty barely seen, of shadow gums and stringy bark, of tracks and water hard to find. 

If I could tell the love of God, I’d sing of women seen as fools because, in Joseph’s hidden way, they crossed an empty land with trust. 

If I could tell the love of God, I’d sing of women working hard, receiving bits of broken bread,and poor enough to serve the poor. 

If I could tell the love of God, I’d sing of Christ who chose the Cross. His wisdom brings the might down. His strength uplifts the stable’s child. 

If I could tell the love of God, I’d sing of Christ who chose the Cross. His justice mends a broken world, His mercy turns the grave around. 

"The richer class have many ways of shielding themselves, and stand less in need of help from the State; whereas the mass of the poor have no resources of their own to fall back upon, and must chiefly depend upon the assistance of the State. And it is for this reason that wage-earners, since they mostly belong in the mass of the needy, should be specially cared for and protected by the government."