HOMILY: 30TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A

HOMILY: 30TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A

THEME: LOVE GOD AND YOUR NEIGHBOUR.

BY: KARABARI PAUL

‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?’

The Old Testament has 613 commandments, and there is no clear standard for judging which is greatest. The rabbis speak of some commandments as “heavy” and others as “light,” with an unending debate on their importance.

When asked by the lawyer in the Gospel of today (Matthew 22:34-40), which was greatest of the commandments, Jesus said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

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The first is from Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (see also Deuteronomy 11:13). Jews call it the Shema. The Shema builds on the First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3), but adds the love requirement. To fulfill these requirements, Jewish children memorize these verses, and Jewish people wear them in phylacteries on their foreheads, post them in mezuzahs on their doorposts, and repeat them every day of their lives as part of their daily worship. The words of the Shema, recited in daily worship, are truly graven on Jewish hearts. No faithful Jew can argue with the primacy of this commandment.

Note that the God whom we are to love is “your God”—adding a personal dimension to our religious duty (see the First Reading). It is not some abstract higher power that we worship, but our God, a God to whom we belong and who belongs to us, a God who acted in the past to save us, and who continues to save us in the present, a God who created us in all our splendid complexity and who knows every hair of our heads. He is a father, a provider. Sometimes, the image of some of our earthly wicked fathers clouds our knowledge of God as a loving father. (When I consider the goodness of the Lord..I feel like singing every time…)

Shema says, “Love God with heart, soul, and might”, but Jesus says, “heart, soul and mind.” Both the Shema and Jesus simply ask us to love God without qualification—with all that we have and all that we are—with that which constitutes the core of our being. Our relationship with God is not a place for half-heartedness. “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16). It is a total self-offering to God. It is to give one’s entire being to God. Mary showed that when she said she was the handmaid of the Lord and His will should be done. In this way, you are no longer interested in your own desire but God’s. St. Paul says, “I longer live for myself.” You realise that you are absolutely nothing without Him. The Bible says, “Take man’s breath and he returns to dust.”

Jesus continued, “A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’” This comes from Leviticus 19:18, a verse which is quoted three times in this Gospel (5:43 and 19:19). When Jesus says that the second commandment is like the first, He means that they are related and have similar weight. Love of God naturally leads to love of neighbour, and love of neighbour is part of loving God. 1 John 4:20 makes the linkage explicit: “If a man says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?”

Jesus said: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ But we also all know that sometimes people aren’t easy to love, and that is just as true in our churches as it is in our families, work places, and neighbourhoods. And human love often says. “I will love you as long as you meet my expectations, agree with my politics, attend my church, from my ethnic group or fit into my social circle. This is manipulation and not love. You love people because they are human beings created by God. If you love God, you will love His handiwork.

Our families, workplaces, and churches can be places of joy, peace, and unity, but they can also be places of disagreements and bitterness, often due to different personalities and different opinions. So how can we love people without manipulating them? The first thing to keep in mind is that if we so consider how people have made themselves our enemies by their actions and inaction then there are times we have done same to God but He keeps loving us. Again, if God still love us in such a condition, then we have to love them. The First Reading (Exodus 22:21-27) is instructive on how to love. Life has at various times edged us into such positions where the disadvantaged occupy today. It could be anyone. We have our lessons and should be used positively. Whatever we do to others, we do their Creator who made Kings and slaves. And what we do to God, there is a reward, good or bad. If you have been graced, give grace to others.

Let us help the weak to identify the resources that can change their destiny. We must allow God to use us. God walks the path of history with us and points at the lessons. And these are summarized in His call for true love of Him and for neighbour. GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE. May God have mercy on us, heal our world and land, bless and protect us all through Christ Our Lord Amen. Good morning

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