Daily Catholic Lectio
Sunday, 29 October 2023
Thirtieth Sunday of the Year in Ordinary Time
Exodus 22:21-27. 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10. Matthew 22:34-40.
I Love You!
The Lord who prophesies through the Prophet Jeremiah says to the people of Israel, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued my faithfulness to you” (Jer 31:3). If we consider this passage as an ‘I love you’ message from God to human persons, the opening words of today’s responsorial psalm could be taken as an ‘I love you’ message from human persons to God: “I love you, Lord, my strength!”
David, the servant of the Lord, having been liberated by God from the hands of the enemies and from the hands of Saul, who sought to kill him, begins his thanksgiving (cf. Ps 18) as “I love you, Lord, my strength” (18:1) and ends as “God shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David, and his offspring forever” (18:50).
When we take the expression of David ‘I love you’ in the light of the readings of the day, we are invited to say to God, ‘I love you,’ to our own selves, ‘I love you,’ and to each other, ‘I love you.’
Today’s gospel reading is the continuation of what we heard last Sunday. After the triumphal entry to Jerusalem, Jesus cleanses the temple of Jerusalem. Being provoked by this event, the enemies of Jesus plot to catch him with his words. The Pharisees join hands with the Herodians and ask Jesus, ‘Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?’ Today, the Pharisees come to Jesus alone. A lawyer (teacher of the Law) among them poses a question to Jesus: “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
The dialogue begins with a word in vocative form: ‘teacher!’ By this title, the lawyer makes fun of Jesus. For he has the prejudice that how could a carpenter from Galilee be a teacher? And he makes fun of all the people who hold Jesus as a teacher.
Every Israelite would know the answer to the question that the lawyer asked, “Which is the great commandment in the Law?” He, as the teacher of the Law surely would know it. The question is posed to test Jesus’ knowledge about the Law. Besides, during the time of Jesus, there were 613 statutes and ordinances in vogue; all these were the outcome of the interpretation of the Decalogue (Ten Commandments) in the tradition of the elders. Maybe the lawyer wanted Jesus to prioritise among the 613 statutes.
Jesus, being aware of the plot, gives a direct answer: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” He defines it as the great and first commandment. Though Jesus quotes from the Great Shema (cf. Deut 6:4-6) of the Law of Moses, he leaves out one expression: ‘with all your might.’ And he adds, ‘with all your mind.’ In Jesus’ proposition, ‘heart’ refers to ‘emotion.’ ‘soul’ refers to ‘life-spirit,’ ‘mind’ refers to ‘thought’ (and ‘might’ refers to ‘body’). Thus, love of God must raise our emotions, life-spirit, and thoughts towards God – God alone.
Jesus, who apparently leaves out the expression ‘with all your might’, expands this expression to an additional commandment: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (cf. Lev 19:18). The love of God must be shown as the love of neighbour through our body. For, in Matthew, ‘love of neighbour’ is associated with ‘physical or corporal works of mercy’: ‘feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, attending to the sick, and visiting the imprisoned’ (cf. Mt 25:35-36).
By placing ‘love of God’ and ‘love of neighbour’ on par with each other, Jesus confirms that he came not to abolish the law but to fulfil it (cf. Mt 5:21-22). And he challenges the Pharisees to come out of their narrow-minded understanding of love for God, which was characterised by blind observance of the Law and tradition and the emphasis on ritual purity.
The first reading is taken from the Covenant Code of the Book of Exodus. Here, the Lord points out to the people of God three groups of helpless people: (a) foreigners or sojourners; (b) widows and orphans; and (c) the poor. All these people are without roots: a sojourner is without land; a widow-orphan is without a relationship; and a poor person is without means of support. The Lord invites the people of God to accommodate them all in the community.
In Lev 19:18, ‘the neighbour’ meant ‘a fellow Israelite next door.’ In Jesus’ time, it exclusively referred to a fellow Jew. But the Lord makes the expression inclusive by adding the foreigners, the widows and orphans, and the poor to the group of neighbours.
In the second reading, Paul praises the community at Thessalonica: “You became imitators of us and of the Lord.” Paul’s integrity is inspiring to us. Paul led a life that others could imitate. Paul calls them imitators of God. The community in Thessalonica was rooted in faith and open to witnessing life. Their love of God was manifest in their faith, and their love of neighbour was vivid in their exemplary lives.
In between ‘love of God’ and ‘love of neighbour’ we have yet another expression, ‘as you love yourself’, i.e., ‘love of self.’ The love of oneself is the measuring rod for the love of another. Jesus, who cites here, ‘you shall love your neighbour as yourself’, later at the Last Supper, gives a new commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you” (cf. Jn 13:34).
Metaphorically, if a human person is a tree, ‘love of God’ refers to the roots, ‘love of self’ refers to the trunk, and ‘love of neighbour’ refers to the branches.
Shri Gaul Gopal Das, a spiritual guide, talks about three C’s that are essential to a human person: ‘connection,’ ‘cultivation,’ and ‘contribution.’ In the context of our reflection today, we can say that through ‘love of God’ we establish our connection with God; through ‘love of self’ we cultivate ourselves; and through ‘love of neighbour’ we contribute.
Today, let us say the words of the Psalmist to God, to ourselves, and to others: ‘I love you!’
In order to make these three words our action, we need to overcome certain obstacles that pertain to each:
(a) Obstacles to ‘love God’: doubt, scepticism, lack of belief in God, pride, sin, lack of God experience, and having misconceptions about God.
(b) Obstacles to ‘love self’: low self-esteem, perfectionism, comparison, negative self-talk, unrealistic expectations, and social pressure.
(c) Obstacles to ‘love others’: fear, prejudice, indifference, intolerance, hatred, anger, self-centred thinking, jealousy, insecurity, and lack of time.
Love is not something that has to do with our heart, mind, and soul; it has to do with our might (our hands). May our love become an action!
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
Missionary of Mercy
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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