BASED ON CATHOLIC LITURGICAL READINGS
30TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A
THEME: “THE CHRISTIAN LOVE”
((Readings: 1st: Ex 22:20-26; Ps:18; 2nd: 1 Thes 1:5c-10; Gos: Mt 22:34-40))
Today being the thirtieth Sunday in ordinary time, our mother church reminds us of the most important theological virtue called love. “Three things will last forever; faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love” 1Cor 13:13. There are two basic dimensions of love, that is the vertical love of God and the horizontal love of neighbor. When these two dimensions are perfectly lived, a Christian can conveniently say, I have fulfilled the commandment of love.
In the first reading, Moses is warning us; “You must not oppress the stranger or molest him…nor be harsh with the widow or with orphans…nor treat the poor unjustly.” God hates the oppression and injustice, against the weak, the poor, and the defenseless. Their cry reaches him immediately and directly, and he will fight for them because he is compassionate. Moses reminds us that we were all once prisoners, aliens, and slaves in the land of Egypt but out of love he liberated us from the hands of our enemies. We are all beneficiaries of this liberation, a consequence of God´s love. Our liberation is a clear sign of God´s love.
Therefore, today Jesus is really making our life very simple. We do not need 10 commandments to observe, but simply one command of LOVE that carries all the Jewish laws and prophets. How do we express our Love?
- COMPASSION
Compassion is a feeling of concern for the sufferings and misfortunes of others. Are we moved with the life situations of other people? Are our hearts touched upon seeing the disabled, sick, dying, poor, crying, etc.? God heard the cry of our ancestors under the rule of slavery in Egypt and that is why He fought for them in order to liberate them. God was touched by our sinful situations and that is why he sacrificed his only son to set us free from sin. Similarly, God promises that “If the poor cry out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate.” (Ex 22:26). May we be compassionate towards the unfortunate people around us and come to their aid.
- CHARITY
In the second century, a non-Christian named Aristides wrote the following about the Christians. He said “Christians love one another. They never fail to help widows; they save orphans from those who would hurt them. If one of them has something, they give freely to those who have nothing. If they see a stranger, Christians take him home and are happy, as though he were a real brother. They don’t consider themselves brothers in the usual sense, but brothers through the Spirit, in God. And if they hear that one of them is in jail or persecuted for professing the name of their redeemer, they give him all he needs. This is really a new kind of person. There is something divine in them.” These words are very inspiring in the sense that a Christian life of charity towards one another is a clear witness of love. Many saints have been canonized just because of their charity towards others.
- SACRIFICE
To sacrifice is to put the needs of the ones that we love before our needs. If we love God and our neighbor, then we must be able to sacrifice our time, talents, riches, ego, and everything we have for God and our neighbor. The ability to give God and neighbor priority is the measure of our Christian love.
In a nutshell dear friend, Jesus is summarizing his teachings, Laws, and Prophets into a commandment of love. However, it has to be seriously noted that the love of neighbor comes before the love of neighbor. It is not possible to love God and fail to love the neighbor. “If anyone says, I love God. But hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1Jn 4:20). The best way of expressing our love for God is through our neighbors. We must affect others positively in order to love God well. St. Augustine said: “Love and do whatever you will”. If inside us there is a root of love, then whatever springs from us must be good.
PRAYER: I love you, Lord, my strength: Amen (Ps 18:2)
Blessed Sunday
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“May the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all People. Amen”
SVD JAMBO KENTAN 