30th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A
Love of God and Neighbor
Rev. James Fourcade
We have heard the old adage -- "Love makes the world go 'round." Despite the cynics, love does motivate people. Marriage, family, children, our vocation, all stem from love's self-giving and sense of sacrifice. Love indeed makes the world go around.
Today’s readings bring us to the heart of Christian discipleship; Love. Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and soul. Then he adds a second commandment that is inseparable from the first; to love our neighbor as ourselves.
In the second reading, St. Paul praises the Thessalonians because they understood that to be a faithful imitator of the Lord one must be in right relationship with both God and neighbor. This right relationship is the same message as our first reading in Exodus. Jesus points out that there is an integral connection between love of God and love of neighbor. God is on the side of the disadvantaged. If the Israelites mistreat anyone, God will hear that person’s cry and punish the wrongdoer.
The message shared in Exodus and by St. Paul to the Thessalonians is the same message Jesus is emphasizing to the Pharisees in today’s Gospel.
Instead of listening to Jesus, the Pharisees are once again is tring to trap Jesus with this question: “Which commandment in the law is the greatest?”. They propose a simple question to find a credible way they could attack Jesus so as to embarrass him. Instead, Jesus answered with two commands straight from the Torah – the same Torah the Jewish leadership demanded strict adherence by the Jews. He quotes from Deuteronomy and Leviticus two laws that summarize the whole law given to them by God to Moses on Mt. Sinai: “The first is love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. The second is Love your neighbor as yourself.”
The Pharisees, as religious leaders, understand the law that Moses received. They did not need Jesus to instruct them, they have been teaching the Jews the law requires strict adherence to live in right relationship with God. They even fault Jesus for sometimes disobeying the law as he did when he plucked grain on the Sabbath and when he healed on the SABBATH.
However, when Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy and Leviticus, he is teaching the Pharisees and scribes the centerpiece of the Law given to them through Moses by God, is not strict adherence of the law, but what the Law is desiring from the Jews --- LOVING RELATONSHIP.
While the Pharisees viewed themselves as righteous and obedient religious leaders, Jesus sees them as proud, judgmental, and blind to the truths Jesus is trying to teach them.
This disagreement between Jesus and the Pharisees is not whether the law of Moses should be honored. Both agree the law should be honored. The disagreement lies in the correct message in the law and the core value of a believer, which is fidelity to God and love of your neighbor.
These two commandments are not merely ideals or pious sentiments. They shape the way we treat people, especially those we disagree with, those that push our buttons, the vulnerable, and those who society tends to forget about, like the homeless, those who struggle with mental challenges or the immigrants who are being mistreated.
Scripture asks us to examine how that love is expressed in our own daily lives; in the way we speak to others, in how we respond to people who need help, and in whether we notice those who are suffering. Love of God cannot remain separated from compassion for our neighbor. Jesus is stressing to us and the Jewish leadership that when one lives without love ---- worship, scripture study, and prayer become hollow.
Our readings today change the way we work, the way we serve, the way we endure hardship, and the way we relate to one another. To love God with all our heart means continually assessing whether anything has taken the place of those core beliefs; like being prideful, angry, lust, greed, envy, gluttony, lazy by ignoring others, maybe a co-worker, an elderly neighbor or someone who just bothers us. When God truly becomes first in our lives, love begins to overflow toward others.
This week, we might ask ourselves three questions:
1. Do I make time to love God and assess how I may be falling short showing that love?
2. Who is the neighbor in my life whom I am tempted to overlook?
3. What concrete act of mercy or service is Christ asking of me?
Love of God. Love of neighbor. Easy to talk about. Difficult to live out. In spite of the effort, love in action will change us and our surroundings. Fidelity to God and charity toward others will challenge others to action. All we need to do is live like Jesus did.
The last story that Jesus told was his parable of the final judgement (separating the sheep from the goats) and it all has to do with deeds. Jesus placed emphasis not on how we feel, but on how we act.
May our faith become visible in the way we live, so that others may recognize in us the presence of the living and true God. And may everything we do begin and end with the words of Jesus: to love God completely and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
