Daily Catholic Lectio
Mon, 19 February 2024
Monday of the First Week of Lent
Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18. Matthew 25:31-46
Neighbouring little ones
In today’s world, when we look at the grand, the mega, and the grandeur, Jesus turns our eyes towards the small, the little, and the insignificant.
The first reading presents before us the narrative of God giving the people of Israel the commandment to love their neighbours. When Jesus clarifies the question of a teacher of the Law on ‘the greatest commandment’, he quotes from this passage and equates love of neighbour (cf. Lev 19:18) with ‘love of God’ (cf. Deut 6:4).
The Lord, who announces, “Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy,” places ‘love of neighbour’ as the path. Here, love is not an emotion or a feeling, but a concrete action: ‘not stealing, not telling lies, not speaking falsely, not swearing falsely in God’s name, not defrauding, not robbing one’s neighbour, not withholding the wages, not cursing the deaf, not acting dishonestly, not showing partiality, acting justly, not bearing hatred, not taking revenge.
In the gospel reading, in the parable that answers the question, ‘Who will inherit eternal life?’ Jesus proposes that those who minister to the needs of the ‘little ones’ – the hungry, the thirsty, the homeless, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned.
Jesus not only invites us to love our neighbours but also insists that we love the little ones of the neighbours. The little ones must become our neighbours. By doing so, Jesus identifies himself with the little ones and says that the love of neighbours is an extension of the love of God.
What is the lesson for us from today’s readings?
(a) Love is an action
We must not stop loving as a mere emotion or a feeling, but rather convert it to action.
(b) Neighbours and little ones
A neighbour is someone who is in need (cf. Lk 10). Little ones are those who are on the margins of society, totally broken, and fully neglected.
(c) Love of God through love of neighbour
Though it is suggested that we love God by loving our neighbours, we must always remember that loving neighbours must not be sought as a recourse to reach God. If it were so, we would be using human persons. Human persons are ends in themselves, and they can never be used as mere means. Moreover, our love for the little ones must be based on the grounds of dignity and justice; we must not stop at the level of mercy.
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‘The synodal church includes everyone—especially the vulnerable, the marginalised—the poor, the refugees, the migrants, the elderly, the children, the differently abled, and those who seek their gender identity,’ says Pope Francis. (cf. Jubilee A. D. 2025, bite 34)
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
Missionary of Mercy
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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