This is the greatest and first commandment. The second is like it.

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Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 12:28-34.
One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, «Which is the first of all the commandments?»
Jesus replied, "The first is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'
The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, 'He is One and there is no other than he.'
And 'to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself' is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
And when Jesus saw that (he) answered with understanding, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Commentary of the day
Saint Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) and Doctor of the Church
De Trinitate, VIII, 12 ; PL 42, 958B-959A

“This is the greatest and first commandment. The second is like it.” (Mt 22:38-39)

“Beloved, let us love one another because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten of God and has knowledge of God. The man without love has known nothing of God, for God is love.” (1 Jn 4:7-8) In this text, the apostle John with his great authority shows clearly that fraternal love not only comes from God, but that this fraternal love, which causes us to love one another, is God himself.

Consequently, when we love our brother with a genuine love, we are loving our brother according to God, through God. And it is impossible not to love above everything that love itself, thanks to which we love our brother. From which we can conclude that these two precepts cannot exist one without the other. Since “God is love”, the person who loves love certainly loves God; and the person who loves his brother necessarily loves love. That is why the apostle John says a little later: “One who has no love for the brother he has seen cannot love the God he has not seen.” (1 Jn 4:20). What stops him from seeing God is that he does not love his brother. The person who does not love his brother is not in love; and the person who is not in love, is not in God, for “God is love.”