Your Daily Tripod
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate. (Exodus 22:26)
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 them, “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.” (Matthew 22:36-40)
Piety
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth.
O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations,
O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations,
Amen.
Study
Those Pharisees are at it again, testing Jesus to see if they can goad him into saying something contrary to the law. Jesus, however, turns the encounter with the Pharisees into a teaching moment. Jesus never failed to educate those who would listen. Here, Jesus recites for the Pharisees the two greatest commandments, and shows the real meaning behind those commandments: Love God and Love Others.
Love is a tricky word. For some, it is equated with emotion or sentiment. Certainly, these attributes are important. But Jesus challenges us to look at love through a different lens: to love selflessly.
Jesus invites us to enter into a loving relationship with God, to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. And, Jesus challenges us to love others, and to give of ourselves freely to another for that person’s good. Put succinctly, to love God also means loving others.
Jesus never said that this would be easy. But we should reassured that Jesus is with us in our faith journey of learning to love God and others each day. In fact, the theme of the ongoing Men’s 135th Cursillo is “I am with you always (Matthew 28:20).” Jesus is walking this journey with us, and will help us love selflessly when doing so is hard and when it is joyful!
Reflect on the ways you love God and others in your life. What are the challenges? What are the joys? Reflect on how you can better love God and others, knowing that Jesus is with you always!
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