Hot on the heels of one of the most popular and enthusiastically embraced papal encyclicals in the modern era, an American bishop is continuing to spread the news that – in effect – all you need is love.

This time, the message was spread at an interfaith dinner:

Inspired by Jesus’ urgent command to “love your neighbor as yourself,” Christians everywhere are called to move out into the wider world to forge meaningful relationships with people of all religions and, like the Good Samaritan, care for the needs of everyone.

Bishop Arthur Serratelli delivered this timely message to a gathering of more than 300 religious and civic leaders of various creeds Sunday, Sept. 16, at the Fourth Annual Interfaith Dialog Center Dinner at the Parsippany Hilton. The bishop joined a rabbi and a Muslim university professor that night in calling for the world’s religions and people to work together for the cause of tolerance, mutual respect, understanding and peace.

Guided by the dinner’s theme, “Love is the essence of existence,” Rabbi Jack Bemporad, director of the Center for Interreligious Understanding, traced the Lord’s commandment to “love thy neighbor” back to Old Testament. Meanwhile, Ahmet Kuru, assistant political science professor at San Diego State University, urged the world’s religious first to emphasize their “commonalities” in their attempts at dialog.

The Newark-based Interfaith Dialog Center (IDC), founded by the Turkish-American Muslims of northern New Jersey in 2003, hosted the dinner, which in Islamic tradition is called an iftar. Sunday’s iftar featured Islamic art, prayers, culture and culinary delights. During the iftar, an evening meal that breaks the daily fast during the Islamic observance of Ramadan, Muslims often dine in community.

After the dinner, Bishop Serratelli addressed the religious and civic leaders with the declaration that the true “voice of the historical Jesus” in Scripture implores us to “love your enemies” as well as to “turn the other cheek.” These commands of Jesus – in addition to Christ’s parable of the Good Samaritan found in Luke, Chapter 10 – encourage Christians to reach out to get to know and help their neighbors, even those of a different religion, he said.

The bishop reminded the audience of the parable of the Good Samaritan, who saw a man, beaten up and lying on the side of the road. The Samaritan took care of the injured man, he said.

“Indiscriminate love – this is how God loves us,” Bishop Serratelli said. “How can we love God whom we do not see if we do not love our neighbor whom we can see?”

Reaching out to our neighbors can benefit us – science has discovered that people who do so live longer. The bishop added, “This is how we grow. This is how we inherit the kingdom of God.”

The article goes on to quote other religious leaders at the dinner, who also picked up the theme of love. It’s a good read.