Citizens of the World, Members of the Church

30th Sunday In Ordinary Time
26 October 2008


We are God’s people, the sheep of his flock: come, let us worship him, alleluia.

First reading Exodus 22:20 - 26
The Lord said to Moses:
“Anyone who sacrifices to other gods shall come under the ban.

“You must not molest the stranger or oppress him, for you lived as strangers in the land of Egypt. You must not be harsh with the widow, or with the orphan; if you are harsh with them, they will surely cry out to me, and be sure I shall hear their cry; my anger will flare and I shall kill you with the sword, your own wives will be widows, your own children orphans.

“If you lend money to any of my people, to any poor man among you, you must not play the usurer with him: you must not demand interest from him.

“If you take another’s cloak as a pledge, you must give it back to him before sunset. It is all the covering he has; it is the cloak he wraps his body in; what else would he sleep in? If he cries to me, I will listen, for I am full of pity.”

Psalm or canticle: Psalm 17

Second reading 1 Thessalonians 1:5 - 10
When we brought the Good News to you, it came to you not only as words, but as power and as the Holy Spirit and as utter conviction. And you observed the sort of life we lived when we were with you, which was for your instruction, and you were led to become imitators of us, and of the Lord; and it was with the joy of the Holy Spirit that you took to the gospel, in spite of the great opposition all round you. This has made you the great example to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia since it was from you that the word of the Lord started to spread – and not only throughout Macedonia and Achaia, for the news of your faith in God has spread everywhere. We do not need to tell other people about it: other people tell us how we started the work among you, how you broke with idolatry when you were converted to God and became servants of the real, living God; and how you are now waiting for Jesus, his Son, whom he raised from the dead, to come from heaven to save us from the retribution which is coming.

Gospel Matthew 22:34 - 40
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees they got together and, to disconcert him, one of them put a question, ‘Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ Jesus said, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also.’


Reflections
By Pietro S. Albano

The question of which is the greatest of the commandments was a tricky one. No one would find it easy to answer considering that the Jews have been handed too many rules to follow. Yet Jesus was able to find the essence of all the commandments and told the teacher of the Law about it. The spirit of the Law that every Jew adhered to is nothing else, but love. Loving God to the best of our abilities and loving our fellowmen the way we love ourselves captures the idea why we have laws. The Pharisees and Scribes failed to see this because they were more focused on enforcing the letter of the Law.

We too can be obsessed with following rules to the letter and disregard the meaning of these rules. When we throw our candy wrapper in the bin is it more because of the sign “Bawal magtapon ng basura” or because we appreciate God’s creation and care for the environment? When we kiss the hand of our elders is it because God told us to do so or because we respect them? When we give donations in Sunday Masses, is it due to our obligation to the Church or due to our willingness to help our community in improving its service to the people?