May the good Lord grant you the grace not only to love your neighbour as yourself but to love him\her by sacrificing your life for him\her just as Jesus loved us by dying on the cross for our sake. Happy Sunday!
+ John Okoye
DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Exodus 22, 20-26; 1 Thess. 1, 5-10; Matt 22, 34-40: 30th Sunday of Year A: Oct. 29, 2017)
In today’s Gospel reading, the credibility of Jesus is again under attack. Last Sunday, he succeeded in silencing the Sadducees, the priestly and aristocratic group that were in sympathy with the Roman occupation. Now the Pharisees, a lay group that exerted significant influence among the people because of their knowledge and piety, set out to trick Jesus. One of them, a lawyer, or an expert in the Law asks Jesus to identify the most important commandment. This question was an issue of considerable interest to rabbis at the time, about which there seemed to have been little agreement. While the discussion in rabbinic circles was probably carried on for the sake of clarification, in the present hostile context, the question is posed in order to put Jesus to test. At this point, in history, the Law included 613 commandments, 365 prohibitions (one for each day of the year) and 268 prescriptions (one for each bone in the body). Although each law was considered binding because they had been delivered by Moses, some were regarded as heavy or very important and others were looked upon as less weighty. Presumably, the lawyer, whose very profession consisted of interpreting the Law, would have understood this better than Jesus, who was not a scribe. Despite the fact that this was a disputed question, whatever priority Jesus proclaim would most likely be challenged by some. If it appeared he was annulling a part of the Law, he could lose his status in the community as a teacher.
Jesus’s answer is faithful to his own Jewish faith. He does not single out any particular statute but rather endorses the summons that constitutes the Shema, the most significant prayer of the Israelite religion (See Deuteronomy 6,7). To the injunction to love God with all one’s heart and soul, Jesus adds with all your mind, probably for the purpose of emphasising the total engagement of the person. This is the way the love of God must occupy one’s entire being and not be simply a superficial allegiance. Jesus was asked to identify one commandment, and he offers two. The second, which is said to be like the first rather than second in importance, is a citation from the book of Leviticus (19, 18). Twice Jesus has reached into the biblical Law in order to answer the question posed to him. By bringing these admonitions together as he does, he shows that, though not identical, they are interrelated. Placing his answer within the context of the Shema, he makes proclamation that there is no other God but this God, the controlling theme in his response. From this proclamation flows the responsibility to love God with one’s entire being and to love one’s neighbour as oneself. With his final statement: On these two commandants hang the whole Law and the Prophets also, Jesus demonstrates that singling out a dual commandment in no way abrogates the other commandments. He is not judging between the heavy and the less weighty requirements. Instead, he is asserting that the entire religious tradition, identified as the Law and the Prophets, is dependent upon this commandment of love. In other words, there is no genuine fulfillment of the Law that does not flow from love of God and love of others.
We may sometimes think that it is easier to love God than to love others. But, it may actually be just the opposite. Other people are tangible. We can see and hear them, interact with them. Their influence in our lives can permeate our consciousness. That is not the way it is with God. Like Moses on the mountain, we can only see the traces of divinity as God passes by (Cf. Exodus 33, 23). However, we show that we love God by loving what He loves; we that show we love God in the way we love our neighbour. The Sacred Scriptures goes as far as telling us that we really do not love God if we do not love others (1 John 4, 20). It is true that we love God when we love those who are such intimate part of our lives, but love like God’s love must be more expansive than this. If our love is open and generous like God’s love, we will care for widows, orphans and the abandoned, the aged that live alone in their homes near our quarters; we will visit and care for the sick, feed the hungry, especially the homeless, ones that are stranded in our streets; we will alleviate the suffering of those who are suffering from terminal diseases like AIDS and those with mental illness; we will also show love and compassion to the marginalised of our society. If our love is open and generous like God’s love, we will do what we can as individuals and as groups to provide decent living conditions for people trapped in the prison of poverty, we will make sure that the sick child of my neighbour does not die for lack of medical attention by making available few naira and kobo for the child’s treatment of malaria or similar illness. If we love as God has loved us in Jesus Christ we will inconvenience ourselves for the comfort of neighbours.
In the second reading we see how the love of God and neighbour was practiced. Paul and his two companions, Silvanus and Timothy showed pastoral love as missionaries among the Thessalonians. Their manner of living converted the Thessalonians to the lifestyle of Paul and his companions. This conversion made such an extraordinary effect on their lives that they in turn made a comparable impact on the lives of others. The gospel message takes shape in the lives of believers and elicits a positive response from those with whom they have contact. Thus, the pastoral charity of Paul and his companions had ripple effects. The goodness and compassion of these missionaries made the Thessalonians renowned in the neighbouring territories. Love of God and neighbours encourages us to appreciate the good in the other. That is why Paul eulogies the Thessalonians, whom he just knew for a short time but for whom his heart was already pulsating in profound love. He was full of good words for their generosity of faith as they received the word of God with the joy of the Holy Spirit even in the midst of tribulations. We make bold to say that Paul’s eulogy on the Thessalonians was a manifestation of love and apostolic zeal he had for them. When one eulogises the other person, it is to encourage him in the path of virtue. We should be able to acknowledge the good we see in others and the good works they do. This is also a demonstration of delicate, positive and fecund love. It is all about the recognition of the good that others perform and to encourage others in doing such good works with the eventual effect that all will grow together in mutual love towards God and brothers and sisters. Love your God, love your neighbour and love one another the way I have loved you. These statements of Jesus are the most important of the ideals we have to pursue in life. Therefore, these sayings should be the principles of all we do and should give colour to all we do. When we use them as the motivating factor of all we think, say and do we will be seeing ourselves gradually being united with Christ and through him to the Blessed Trinity and to our brothers and sisters. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye
(graphics by chukwubike )
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