Love your neighbour as yourself

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A

Collect

Almighty ever-living God, increase our faith, hope and charity, and make us love what you command, so that we may merit what you promise. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Amen. 

If you are harsh with the widow or orphan; my anger will flare against you.
Exod 22:20-26

A reading from the book of Exodus

The Lord said to Moses, Tell the sons of Israel this, “You must not molest the stranger or oppress him, for you lived as strangers in the land of Egypt. You must not be harsh with the widow, or with the orphan; if you are harsh with them, they will surely cry out to me, and be sure I shall hear their cry; my anger will flare and I shall kill you with the sword, your own wives will be widows, your own children orphans.

“If you lend money to any of my people, to any poor man among you, you must not play the usurer with him: you must not demand interest from him.

“If you take another’s cloak as a pledge, you must give it back to him before sunset. It is all the covering he has; it is the cloak he wraps his body in; what else would he sleep in? If he cries to me, I will listen, for I am full of pity.”

The Word of the Lord.
℟. Thanks be to God.

Psalm 17:2-4. 47. 51

℟. I love you, Lord, my strength.

I love you, Lord, my strength,
my rock, my fortress, my saviour.
My God is the rock where I take refuge;
my shield, my mighty help, my stronghold.
The Lord is worthy of all praise:
when I call I am saved from my foes. ℟.

Long life to the Lord, my rock!
Praised be the God who saves me.
He has given great victories to his king
and shown his love for his anointed. ℟.

You broke with idolatry and became servants of God; you are now waiting for his Son.
1 Thess 1:5-10

A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Thessalonians

You observed the sort of life we lived when we were with you, which was for your instruction, and you were led to become imitators of us, and of the Lord; and it was with the joy of the Holy Spirit that you took to the gospel, in spite of the great opposition all round you. This has made you the great example to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia since it was from you that the word of the Lord started to spread – and not only throughout Macedonia and Achaia, for the news of your faith in God has spread everywhere.

We do not need to tell other people about it: other people tell us how we started the work among you, how you broke with idolatry when you were converted to God and became servants of the real, living God; and how you are now waiting for Jesus, his Son, whom he raised from the dead, to come from heaven to save us from the retribution which is coming.

The Word of the Lord.
℟. Thanks be to God.

Gospel Acclamation
Jn14:23

Alleluia. ℟. Alleluia.
If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him.
℟. Alleluia.

You must love the Lord your God and your neighbour as yourself.
Mt 22:34-40

A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees they got together and, to disconcert him, one of them put a question, ‘Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ Jesus said, ‘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. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also.’

The Gospel of the Lord.
℟. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.


Reflection

Matthew presents us with a Pharisee, an expert in the Law, who, despite knowing the Law very well, had a heart far removed from what the Law itself teaches. His intentions were not genuine. His aim was to put Jesus to the test. But the Master is never at a loss for words. Just as He had silenced the Sadducees when they questioned Him about the resurrection in the preceding account, so too He silences this expert in the Law who had set out to test Him. 

In Jesus’ time, the people of Israel had many laws and other precepts. There was much debate about which of these commandments was the greatest. Jesus, who can read hearts and discern what lies hidden within them, recognised the concealed intentions of the man before Him. And, being truly wise, He brought all the laws together under the love of God and of one another. He did so by quoting two verses from the very Scriptures with which this expert in the Law was supposed to be familiar.

The first answer, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” is taken from Deuteronomy 6:5. This commandment calls for absolute love for the Father. The three faculties mentioned—the heart, the soul and the mind—express the total offering of all that we are to the Father. This offering is not divided within itself; rather, it is complete, total and wholehearted.

But Jesus did not stop there. He went on, of His own accord, to link love for God with love for our neighbour. Indeed, He declared that “a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” This answer is found in Leviticus 19:18. According to Jesus, these two commandments go hand in hand and are the very heart of all Scripture. You cannot live out one without the other. They cannot be separated. Each is bound to the other. The second is like the first; indeed, the second is a mirror of the first.

We find this same idea in the First Letter of St John (1 John 4:20b): “for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” For truly, how can we draw near to the Lord if not through our fellow human beings? 

Prayer

Lord, purify my intentions. They are not always perfect, even when they appear good on the surface. You know well what lies hidden in my heart. Forgive me when what I conceal does not reflect Your words. Forgive me when I have claimed to obey the first commandment while setting the second aside. Forgive me when I have separated them and reasoned that one has nothing to do with the other.  

Help me to see You in those around me—in my colleagues at work, in my relatives and in my friends. Help me to remember that You are present in every person. Help me to remember that whatever I do for them, I do for You … and whatever I fail to do for them, I fail to do for You. Amen.

 

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