YEAR A, 30TH SUNDAY HOMILY IN ORDINARY TIME
YEAR A, 30TH SUNDAY HOMILY IN ORDINARY TIME
THEME: Send in the Lawyers
By: Deacon Bill Frere
Gospel – Matthew 22: 34-40
Last Sunday the Pharisees continued their attempts at trying to trap Jesus by asking if they should pay the Roman temple tax. They fail miserably when Jesus produces a coin and tells them to give to man what belongs to man and give to God what belongs to God.
Today they try again; this time they send in the lawyers asking a seemingly simple question – what law is the greatest! It seems simple enough until you realize that in the Torah there are a total of 613 separate laws and precepts. 613! Every faithful Jew then and now knows that to be true!
If you look closely at today’s pic, you will see a man wearing a Jewish prayer shawl, a tallit! It is worn by Jewish men every time they pray. If you notice, there are a lot of tassels and knots! If you were to count them all up – it would total 613! So symbolically whenever they pray, they wrap the Law around them; it shelters them, protects them. And pulling it over your head is a reminder that the Law comes from God.
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So what is Jesus to do – which of the 613 does He pick? None of them! His answer – you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind. Technically it isn’t a law, per se! But He doesn’t stop there – He adds a second – you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Again technically NOT a law. However both of those statements (perhaps we should call them obligations) are in the Torah; both of them are familiar to the Pharisees and Sadducees and the lawyers!
The first one is part of the Shema – a Jewish prayer, normally the first one taught to a Jewish child – much like we teach our kids the Our Father or Hail Mary. “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One! And you shall love the Lord our God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind“. And the second commandment comes from Leviticus, admonishing the Jews on how they should treat foreigners!
So what’s going on? Jesus is giving them AND US not a new law, but the REASON we follow the law. Why shouldn’t we kill or steal or cheat or lie? Why shouldn’t I be envious or angry or unforgiving? Why can’t I be selfish and ignore the plight of others? Because we are called to LOVE!!
We all know that to be true! Just consider the people we love, our family, our friends! Wouldn’t you do anything for them? Wouldn’t you do anything to keep them happy and safe? Don’t you do your best to be honest and caring, open and gentle with them?
And yet we are only human and at times we still do stumble and fall. We do get angry or dishonest! And when it happens, we are so upset, so apologetic, so guilty and thirsty for forgiveness, to make amends and heal the relationship. Love! Love of God and love of neighbor! All of the commandments draw their meaning and purpose from LOVE.
In this world of violence and hatred, where the world seems to categorize people by gender, race, religion and nationality, we risk the temptation of compartmentalizing love, devoting ourselves to love of God, but not our neighbor. Or we choose to narrow our definition of neighbor and love some and not others.
But, just like last Sunday with the Roman coin (pay the taxes or not), the choice is not a simple either/or. We are called to love – to love God and our neighbor. May we always be a people of love, witnessing to the Gospel and sharing God’s love with all around us.
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