The Greatest Commandments

                            30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                           

 

         

 

Today’s readings deal with the true spirit of Jewish law, the law that Jesus came not to abolish, but to fulfill. In today’s first reading from the Book of Exodus we see that the commandments of the law required aid and support of the weak and powerless.

 

Aliens or people displaced from their homeland are deserving of protection. The Lord reminds his people that they themselves were once aliens. Widows and orphans were also vulnerable in a society where a father or husband was the sole means of support and protection for women and children. The Lord reminds his people that their wives and children could also be left out in the cold. The Lord also commands his people to help their needy neighbors, and not drive them further into poverty and misery.

 

In the past few weeks we have been going through chapter 22 of the gospel of Matthew, a chapter that describes the increasing tension between Jesus and the various Jewish leaders. Initially, Jesus had been critical of them for their failure to be faithful to the true spirit of Jewish law. 

 

In return they resorted to plotting against Jesus by trying to get him to say something that will either get him into trouble with the Roman authorities, or cause the Jewish populace to turn against him. Although they couldn’t stand each other, each faction takes their own shot at Jesus. Pharisees, Herodians and Sadducees all try to trip him up.

 

In today’s gospel passage they ask him “which commandment in the law is he greatest?” Jesus knew that scholars had counted over six hundred commandments in the Law but, as usual, he chose to simplify and get right to the true spirit of the Law.

 

         You shall love the Lord, your God,

With all your heart,

With all your soul,

And with all your mind.

This is the greatest and first commandment.

The second is like it:

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

 

In his reply Jesus combines two verses from the Hebrew Scriptures, the first from Deuteronomy 6:5, and the second from Leviticus 19: 18ff. He combines them because his whole life and mission was to show that the love of God and the love of neighbor went hand in hand. One is not possible without the other.

 

Moreover, in his teaching Jesus also extended the very meaning of neighbor. We recall that in the famous parable of the Good Samaritan, he asked, “who was neighbor to the man”? In our Lord’s time, just as in the days of the Exodus, neighbor had a very narrow meaning. Every people, every city, every tribe, every family was at odds with one another. We see in the gospels that not only would the Jews have nothing to do with strangers, but also that they were constantly bickering among themselves. 

 

Of course, the Jewish people were surrounded by people who behaved even worse. Today, despite the words of our Lord, things do not seem to be much better. In many places it seems like only a brutal dictatorship can keep people from cutting each other’s throats. It is hard for us to imagine the animosity among the different factions in the world.

 

It is also hard for us to imagine how people could believe that they are serving God by brutally beheading alien captives, raping their wives, and selling their orphaned children into slavery. Have we made any progress from the time of the Exodus? 

 

Sadly, it is the followers of Jesus who are enduring the greatest persecution. In fact, the persecution of Christians throughout the world today is far greater than at any time in the past. These people are being dispossessed from their homes, tortured, and even murdered for their belief in Christ. They are the true heirs of the Thessalonians that St. Paul praises in today’s second reading. They are the “imitators of the Lord,” and “a model for all believers.”

 

To love someone means to be willing to give all for him or her. After all, what can we really give to God who has given us everything? Jesus has shown us that the way to loving God is through the love of our neighbor. All that we do for those entrusted to our care and protection, we do for Him. We may not have to suffer the cruel martyrdom of our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world, but we are still called to give our lives in the service of others.

 

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Reading 1. Exodus: 22: 20-26

Reading II. 1 Thessalonians 1: 5c-10

Gospel. Matthew 22: 34-40 (Love Your Neighbor)

Love One Another

                                    7th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Note: I was away from my desk during the month of February and could not publish any reflections. I returned home today and hope to resume on the first Sunday of Lent. Meanwhile, I reproduce a reflection written three years ago as a kind of preparation for the season of Lent that starts tomorrow.

                                   

In today’s first reading from the book of Leviticus the Lord urges Moses to tell the Israelites to by holy. Just what does “holy” mean. It certainly does not mean taking some kind of pious attitude. The Lord is not asking the Israelites to love Himself, but to love their neighbor.

            You shall not bear hatred for your brother and sister in your heart,…

            Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against any of your people.

            You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

           

In today’s gospel our Lord seems to have Leviticus in mind as He follows up on his discussion of the beatitudes that we heard just two weeks ago. The Mosaic law of just retaliation stood for an advance in civilization and was more humane than other contemporary law-codes. The injury inflicted on a wrongdoer had to be proportional to his crime. “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”

Still, the Pharisees interpreted the command to love one’s neighbor as applying only to Jews—the pagans need not be loved. Jesus removes all limits on charity. After all, what good does it do?

            For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?

            Do not tax collectors do the same?

            And if you greet your brothers only,

            What is unusual about that>

In Christian theology there is no difference between the words “good,” “holy,”  and “perfect.” There is also no difference between “bad,” “evil,” and “imperfect.” We don’t want to think of ourselves as bad or evil, but most of us would readily admit that we are imperfect.

In today’s gospel Jesus tells his followers to “be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” His words today are a lesson in how to achieve perfection or holiness. He raised the ante. Where Leviticus said love your neighbor, Jesus expands the definition of what is meant by neighbor. He says “love your enemies.”

            When someone strikes you on your right cheek,

            Turn the other one as well.

            If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,

            Hand over your cloak as well,

Sometimes the words of Jesus seem so impractical. But if we reflect on our own experience, maybe we will begin to understand. As children if we cheated on an exam or found a way to avoid doing our work, what did we learn? Cheating did not hurt our classmates or our teacher, it hurt us. It also hurt all those who trusted in us.

In our families do vindictive or vengeful words do any good? How do they make us perfect? These words and actions hurt us even more than the people they are directed at. I know people whose close friendships were broken over a seemingly trivial word or deed. What good did it do them to lose a friend forever?

We know that the world of sports, business, and politics is extremely competitive, but what good will it do us to hate our opponents? When we do so, se become less, not more perfect.

In today’s second reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians he tell us that if we only know what we are, we would look at things differently.

            Do you not know that you are the temple of god,

            And that the spirit of god dwells in you?

He says that there is a higher wisdom, a truer practicality than the world knows. Even our wisest leaders today seem to lack this wisdom. We see them being unfaithful to their loved ones. We see them cheating their friends as well as their enemies. And finally, we see them being led off to jail in handcuffs after being held up to shame and ridicule in the media and the courts.

            For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God…

            The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise,

            That they are in vain.

Fortunately, most of us will not be considered among the wise of the world. In our simple lives we can fly below the radar. Yet we all have to travel the road to perfection in our own way. In these weeks before Lent, our scripture readings are providing us with a road map.

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Reading 1 Leviticus 19: 1-2, 17-18

Reading II. 1 Corinthians 3: 16-23

Gospel. Matthew 5:38-48 (love your enemies).

Who is My Neighbor?

                                    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                                    

The Good Samaritan

           

There is an old legal maxim that ignorance of the law is no defense. Maybe that comes from today's reading from the book of Deuteronomy. Moses tells the people that they can't be ignorant of the law because it is built into their very being. "For this command that I enjoin on you today is not too mysterious and remote for you....it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts..."

Let's face it. Even if our religious education stopped after grade school, we know that it is wrong to kill, or steal, or lie, or commit adultery. We don't have to be a theologian, or a lawyer, or an intellectual to figure it out. In fact, it often seems that the more education we have, the more we try to deny or explain away the fundamental truth that lies in our hearts.

Today's gospel is the famous parable of the "Good Samaritan." In all of literature only the story of the Prodigal Son is more well known than this one, and yet here it is presented to us as the centerpiece of our liturgy on an ordinary summer Sunday in Ordinary time. Why did our Lord use parables or stories?

Let me tell a joke to make a point. Two string beans were crossing the street when one of them was hit by a car. An ambulance came and took both of them to the hospital. A few hours later the doctor came out of the operating room and told the bean that he had good news and bad news. "What's the good news?" "Your friend is going to make it," the doctor said. "What's the bad news?" "He'll be a vegetable!" ...I'm sure that most of you will remember this story much longer than the rest of this homily. Isn't it true that a well told story will not only have more of immediate impact but also it will remain in our memories much longer. After all, no one took notes while Jesus was talking but his stories were told and retold by his followers.

Jesus is prompted to tell the parable after a student of the Law tested Him by asking, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus asks him how the law of Moses answers the question. In reply, the man repeats the "Shema" that prayer that every Jew knew by heart and which every one of us would do well to memorize and repeat every day.

            You shall love the Lord, your God,

            with all your heart,

            with all your being,

            with all your strength,

            and with all your mind,

            and your neighbor as yourself.

After Jesus commends his answer, the man asks, "who is my neighbor." Rather than giving a theological or philosophical lecture, Jesus answers with the story about the man who was beaten and stripped by robbers and left for dead on the road to Jericho. A priest and a Levite pass him by without lending a hand. They even cross to the opposite side of the road to avoid the stricken man. Both of them had to know in their hearts that the Law commanded assistance to the needy.

It was left for the Samaritan to take pity on the man. Now Samaritans were Jews who had intermarried with foreigners and had contaminated their religion with idol worship. They were viewed by the Jews as heretics and idolaters and regarded with hatred and contempt. Nevertheless, our Lord says that a "Samaritan traveler...was moved with compassion" at the sight of the man. Commentators tell us that this is the only instance in the gospels where the verb which means "moved with compassion" is used for anyone besides Jesus. The Samaritan when he dresses the man's wounds and takes him to a nearby inn to care for him, is acting like Jesus.

Of course, when Jesus asks the lawyer, "Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers' victim?" his answer is the same as ours would be. "The one who treated him with mercy." What other answer could there be? This law is ingrained in all of our hearts even though we all have difficulty in obeying the true impulses of our hearts.

In today's second reading St. Paul says the Jesus "is the image of the invisible God." For St. Paul, and for Moses, and for the "Good Samaritan" God is not a distant, invisible, unattainable being. We do not have to look "up in the sky" or far "across the sea" to find Him. We can find Him in the words, and in the deeds, and in the simple, but unforgettable, parables of Jesus.

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Reading 1. Deuteronomy 30: 10-14

Reading II. Colossians 1: 15-20

Gospel. Luke 10: 25-37 (The Good Samaritan.)

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time
C cycle

Reading 1. 1 Kings 19: 16b, 19-21
Reading II. Galatians 5: 1, 13-18
Gospel. Luke 9: 51-62 (Let the dead bury their dead).

Elijah was one of the great prophets in the Old Testament. In his time--about 700 years before the birth of Christ-- the Jewish people, their leaders, and their priests had departed from their ancient faith to follow strange gods. Elijah stood virtually alone against this apostasy. Jewish tradition held that Elijah would one day return to usher in a new age.

In today's first reading Elijah, at the request of the Lord, chooses Elisha to be his successor. The young man is working, he is plowing a field, when Elijah calls him by throwing his cloak over him. Elisha understands that he has been called but only asks that he be allowed to kiss his father and mother good-bye. Elijah's response indicates that Elisha is under no compulsion. He is free to do what he wants. He has to choose. In his own way, by slaughtering the oxen, he sells all he has and gives it to the poor. Then "Elisha left and followed Elijah."

Who could not see the similarity between this episode and today's gospel? Chapter 9 of St. Luke's gospel is full of the signs and wonders that Jesus worked. The most incredible sign was the multiplication of the loaves and fishes when Jesus fed the multitude. Many in the crowd thought that Elijah had returned. Afterwards, Jesus asked the disciples, "who do you say that I am?" Right after Peter replied that Jesus is the "Christ of God," St. Luke tells us that our Lord took Peter, James, and John up the mountain where He was transfigured or glorified. At the Transfiguration Moses and Elijah appeared talking with Jesus. We don't have that reading today because the Church always has reserved the Transfiguration for the second Sunday of Lent.

Unfortunately, when they come down from the mountain, Jesus finds that people, even his followers, do not understand. A man has to beg Him to free his son from an evil spirit because the disciples had not been able. Jesus "healed the boy and restored him to his father." Next the disciples can't believe Him when he again says that He "is to be betrayed into the hands of men." Finally, they even start arguing among themselves about "which of them was the greatest." Again Jesus has to rebuke them: "he who is the least among you, he is the greatest."

This is the background to our gospel today where Jesus sets out on the "journey to Jerusalem." His first stop is a Samaritan village. Samaritans were Jews who long before had intermarried with non-Jews and accepted strange gods. Here we see our Lord's standard operating procedure. When they refuse to welcome Him, when they turn their backs on Him, and fail to offer Him even common hospitality, He just moves on to the next village. It's their choice.

Then St. Luke tells us of three individuals who express a desire to follow Jesus. The stories are brief and puzzling and have been subject to much interpretation. I don't think that Jesus wants us to disregard our basic human obligations. My guess is that Jesus knew that his would-be followers were offering excuses or having second thoughts. "Let me go first and bury my father," or "first let me say farewell to my family at home."

Jesus says to the fearful, to the undecided, to the waverers among us, "don't look back,"
"seize the moment," "strike while the iron is hot." He actually uses a proverb that was old even in His day, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God." In a famous parable He spoke of a merchant who was willing to give up everything he had in order to gain the "pearl of great price."

For St. Paul the "pearl of great price" is our freedom. Our journey to Jerusalem is a journey to find our freedom. It's strange that although we live in a world that values freedom above everything else, we actually possess so little of it. It's not just that so many people in the world live under tyrants and despots, or that so many are victims of poverty and hunger. Even here in the greatest and wealthiest country in the world's history, so many of us are enslaved to one addiction or another.

Could it be that our emphasis on "self-esteem" has led us down the wrong path?
A children's doctor suggested as much in a newspaper column the other day. We have to recognize that the basic principles of religion are at odds with the world today, just as in the time of Elijah or St. Paul. Self-sacrifice, not self-esteem, is at the heart of Christianity. Last week our Lord said that we must lose our life in order to find it.

This week St. Paul reminds us that our flesh (our individual desires) is at war with the Spirit. He says that Spirit and flesh "are opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you want." Anyone on a diet looking at the dessert menu will understand the "war" that goes on within us. Anyone mindlessly flicking through the TV channels for hours will be hard pressed to explain to themselves how they could waste so much of the valuable time that has been allotted to them.

Today, St. Paul's advice to the Galatians and to us is, "serve one another through love." True freedom is found in the "Golden Rule." "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Wouldn't our children be happier today if they were taught to esteem their parents, relatives, teachers, and neighbors rather than themselves? Wouldn't we be happier?






































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