b. How the Rational Creature is bound to love God above All Things

62. As to this point I say that the affirmative precept of Deuteronomy 6 and Matthew 22 ‘You shall love the Lord your God etc.’ is not only always obligatory against the opposite, namely that there be no act of hate, but is also obligatory for sometimes eliciting an act of love, because this act concerns the end from whose goodness comes all the moral goodness in acts that are for the end. If then a man is obliged to have some virtuous act sometimes, he is obliged to have this precept’s act sometimes, about loving the end freely. But when this should perhaps be is determined by the other divine precept, ‘Keep holy the Sabbath’ and ‘let each remain with himself’ (Exodus 20.18, 16.29-30), recollecting himself and rising up to his God; and the Church has specified it as to hearing mass on the Lord’s day (Gratian, Decrees 3 d.1 ch.64 [Ord. 3 d.9 nn.18-20]). The like does not hold of the precept to love one’s neighbor, as will appear in d.28 nn.17-20.