Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Lord said to Moses, “Tell the children of Israel this:
You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. You shall not abuse any widow or orphan.
If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry; my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children orphans.
If you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, you shall not deal with them as a creditor; you shall not exact interest from them.
If you take your neighbour’s cloak in pawn, you shall restore it before the sun goes down; for it may be your neighbour’s only clothing to use as cover; in what else shall that person sleep? And if your neighbour cries out to me, I will listen, for I am compassionate.”
Second reading 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10
Our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead-Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.
When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
By Theresa Ballo
The Gospel today gives us two inseparable commandments. To love God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind. Secondly which is equally important, is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Thus, we cannot say that we love God but show hatred and harm to our neighbor. More so, we cannot show genuine love to others if we do not show respect and love to ourselves. The two greatest commandment is just two sentences but if we really look into ourselves the meaning and challenge of these two commandments, it is hard to sustain. One way or the other, we will fall short.
Everything in this life is about love and relationships. God’s unconditional love to all of us. Our actions in response to that accepting and forgiving love. The kind of relationship we have is deeply connected to how we view and take regard of our ourselves. Isn’t it the challenge of the reading that each time we fail to love ourselves, we also hurt other people, stranger or significant people alike and we disappoint God, we are called to go back and remind ourselves that we are loved from the very beginning of our existence? Someone knows and sees how precious we are. Someone who gave up His son to save us, to save you. Still, God isn’t finish, He sent us the Holy Spirit so we will never be alone.
If we do have faith, reading my previous paragraph, I suppose it will somehow make us feel better. What if the Pharisees of the modern times keep on pushing our limits until we fall into the trap and sulk the little faith we have? What does loving myself mean today? What does loving my neighbor mean today?
I’m sure we all have our own unique answer in those questions. For me, loving myself especially in moments where people around me makes me feel otherwise means trusting that even I feel alone or abandoned by significant people, I still have God. A loving father who always takes care of me and who always stays. May this faith, no matter how little it is right now, purify me in the eyes of God.
God wants to have a deep relationship with you today. He wants you to believe that He is the source of genuine love. He can also give it to you, if you ask it sincerely. He can heal your broken heart so you can be restored again. He will make you more loving and save you from your sins.
Prayer
Dear Lord,
I know that the love produced by my broken heart is tainted and sinful but I love you. One day, I will be more capable of loving You the right way, loving myself a bit more so I can stop hurting significant people who care about me. Help me to love and be merciful to myself so I can be more loving and merciful to others. Help me to see myself as You see me. Fill me with you Holy Spirit so I can display Your love and not mine. Amen.
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