Homily - 30th Week OT

Ex 22:20-26

1Thes 1:5-10

Mt 22:34-40

Love is at the centre of our readings this weekend.  We embrace love as a transformative power, we accept love as a gift freely given to be freely shared.

What marks us off as believers and as Christians is our capacity to love all people as our brothers and sisters.  What challenges us most as followers of Jesus is the call to share with others the same love we receive from Jesus unconditionally.

When Israel was pushed into captivity in Egypt, she was not abandoned by God.  The first reading shows God’s special care for those who can’t defend themselves from adversaries, the poor, the foreigner, widows and orphans.

There are many who can’t defend themselves from their adversaries today.  The poor, foreigners, minority groups, domestic workers, the homeless, and many others who live on the fringes of society. The railway line divides us, proximity to the mountain divides our city and our cultures and languages divide us.

The first reading reminds us that God is the defender of the vulnerable.  If we love God, then through us, the vulnerable will find shelter and protection.  Through God’s love, put into action by us, the poor will find comfort, the hungry will be fed and the homeless will find shelter.

There are enough brains in our world to resolve all the problems we have.  Unfortunately, there isn’t enough love and will power to embrace each other as brothers and sisters.

My dream for our parish over the next few years is that we will gradually get to know each other by name.  When I know your name, I will think about you, I will love you and pray for you.  When we know each other by name, we will build a family of love and peace. What we want to see in the world must first be seen among us.

Paul celebrates the conversion of the Thessalonians in the second reading. They became a good example to others by embracing their faith. God transformed them.  We too can be transformed if we open our hearts to God.  We too can be a good example to others.

The Gospel presents another trap set for Jesus.  He is being tested by his enemies who are refusing to accept his teaching.

At a time when the rabbis were teaching that there were 613 laws, one of the pharisees asked Jesus to identify the greatest commandment.

Jesus responded by going to the heart of the Jewish faith, quoting from the book of Deut 4:4-5, and putting it together with the teaching from the book of Leviticus about love of neighbour.  No other teacher had taught like this before!

The way of Jesus is ‘to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind and to love your neighbour as you love yourself.’

It was clear to the audience that God had to be loved but it was not always clear that neighbour had to be loved as they loved themselves.  In fact, for them, neighbour was understood in a very limited way yet Jesus had a very broad understanding.  The parable of the Good Samaritan teaches that neighbour is anyone who is in need.

This practical side of our faith has three dimensions of love.  Some argue that if we begin with the self, if we acknowledge the wonder of our being and how God has blessed us, we will understand the goodness of God in others.

We love ourselves and we learn to love others, created by the same God.  We love others and we learn to respond to the needs of others who also respond to our needs.

Loving God makes sense when we have understood what it means to love others.  God does not need our love or our prayers.  He is complete in himself.  We need God’s love and guidance because we are incomplete by ourselves.

Blessed with faith, hope and love, let us embrace love as the greatest gift we share.