Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
Gospel: Mt 22: 34-40
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall 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 is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
THE WHOLE BIBLE TALKS ABOUT LOVE: St. Augustine says, “Love and do whatever you want”. Love is life. Ruth loved Naomi to the end that she was not willing to abandon her until death. She loved her people and she loved her God and followed her to Bethlehem even after her sister-in-law had given up. The story of Ruth is the story of love just like the story of Jesus and the church. That is why the scriptures teach us that love is the greatest commandment. Love unites us with others and ultimately with God. Love takes us beyond race, tribe, nation and even religion. The whole of the Bible is summarized in loving God and our neighbors. May we love and live to demonstrate it to all that we meet and to God our Creator.
PRAYER: Dear God fill us with love for you and all people.
*****
FINDING GOD IN OTHERS: We can think of times in our lives when we have given and received love. The joy of love in good a relationship is sharing God’s love. The joy of bringing a compassionate love to the sick, the migrant, the prisoner and the poorest of the poor is also a moment of sharing God’s love. The gospel is a daring statement of Jesus. While his listeners would agree on the two commandments of loving God and our neighbor, they would be surprised to hear them equalized. The whole of the law hangs equally on these two commandments. There is an essential link in loving God and loving each other. The way to find God is to find the way of love in our lives. All our relationships – personal, communitarian and family revolve around this love. This is the heart of religion.
DAILY GOSPEL 