Victor Hugo, a French poet, playwright and novelist,  writes a beautiful story of a man after being released from the galleys, after nineteen years he cannot imagine how to lead his life in any other way than through theft and concealment. One night he comes to the priest’s house to ask for help. The priest was very kind, makes him feel completely at home,  and gives him a warm meal and a room for the night.  But the man is in shock and overwhelmed, but is still unable to prevent himself from stealing the  ornate silver candlesticks in the priest’s house, and running away in the middle of the night. When he is brought back by the police, the priest explains that the candlesticks were a gift to him, and that the policemen should let him go. His life becomes a long and painful adventure. He keeps the candlesticks, and they are a constant reminder, a call to goodness,  to kindness, and to courage.  The priest’s act of kindness, has changed the life of this man. He gave him more than a pair of candlesticks, he gave him a new way of living, a new life.  In the gospel today, Jesus tells us: ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it; you must love your neighbour as yourself’. These two commandments go together; if we do not love our neighbour, we do not love God.  Jesus  gives us the example of the good Samaritan,  the man who helped a stranger, because he was a human person, and he asks each one of us, to be the good Samaritan in the lives of others. To love your neighbour is not just to do a kind act every now and then; it is to see him, to see her, the way Jesus sees them;  to see with the eyes of Jesus; to see with the heart of Jesus. It is to find Christ in them,  to treat them as we would treat Him. An act of kindness does not disappear when it is done, it leaves something beautiful in the heart of the one who receives it,  like the candlesticks that the priest gave away. Let us avail of this moment to remember the people who have been kind to us,  the ones who have been patient, gentle and forgiving,  the good Samaritans in our lives;  those who helped us on our way; those who carried us when we could not make it alone; if you look carefully, you will find very many. In the evening of our lives, we’ll remember back to whom we loved and tried to love; we will dance with joy  for those we loved; and ask forgiveness of someone, of God, of others, of life, for those we hurt. There is a short test of love which we all can do and fits the message of our gospel today.  If you ever wonder how much you love God.  Ask yourself ‘who is the person I love least’.  The answer to the question is, this is how much you love God.