Commentary
Sunday, 10/29/2017, Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Father Said It First
First Reading Commentary: Exodus 22:20-26
We all know the principle of the golden rule which tells us to treat others in the same way that we want to be treated. Chapters 21, 22 and 23:1-9 of Exodus are all about what we call the golden rule which is the Second Greatest Commandment which is also told to us by Christ in today’s gospel; love your neighbor as yourself.
In Exodus 21:22, The LORD said to Moses, “Thus shall you speak to the Israelites: You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven.” This is after Moses had received the Ten Commandments and the LORD was instructing Moses on how to present the Commandments to the Israelites. Today’s reading from Exodus is part of what Moses told the Israelites.
Meditating on what Moses said to the Israelites gives us a wonderful opportunity to do a self-examination of conscience. How good are we at treating others the way that we want to be treated ourselves? Do we really love our neighbors as we love ourselves? And if we do, how good are we at showing it?
How open are we to accepting people who come from a different land or heritage or profess a different religion? Do we welcome them or do we shy away from them and reject them? When we close our minds to what we do not understand and reject those who do not fit into our way of thinking and living, we prejudge them and the LORD is telling us not to do that when He says, “You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.” If there ever was a Scripture that tells us to be open to the immigrant and refugee, this is it!
We are on a journey just like the Israelites. In this life on earth, we are all aliens trying to reach the Promised Land which is the Kingdom of Heaven. No matter where we come from or what we believe, we are all God’s children and if we fail to accept each other as fellow aliens on the same journey, we will never find our way home to the Promised Land. Therefore, the first step in treating others as you want to be treated is to accept others as being no different than yourself.
What Moses was instructed to say next should be taken literally in a spiritual sense but not a physical sense. “You shall not wrong any widow or orphan…My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword; then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans.” This is actually a prophecy of Revelations. The sword is that of the Son of Man in Revelations 1:13-16. It is also the sword of the second and fourth horsemen in Revelations 6:4 and 6:8. It is Christ who rides each of the four horses and it is His sword that will kill all that is evil.
As Christ rides the third horse in Revelations 6:5, He carries a scale which denotes Him as the judge. He will decide what is to be destroyed and what is to be saved. It is by His judgment that God’s wrath will flare up. The message from the LORD in this part of what Moses said to the Israelites is that God’s wrath will flare up against anyone who judges or mistreats others. We are all God’s children and we are all on the same journey and the LORD is telling us to respect and love each other accordingly or else we will feel His wrath.
The LORD goes on to tell the Israelites through Moses not to take advantage of anyone for He is compassionate. If we lend something to someone, do not extort them with interest. If we borrow something from someone, return it. Once again, the LORD is telling us to treat others in the same way that we want to be treated.
Notice that the LORD also says that He is compassionate. The LORD is telling us to be like Him. His compassion is without limit. God does not care about nationality or heritage or culture. He does not care about our financial status or how many material possessions we have. He does not even care how we profess our faith in Him as long as it is genuine, sincere and from the heart as we give Him and only Him all praise and honor and glory.
But God does care about our compassion toward each other because we cannot give Him His praise and glory and we cannot love Him if we do not love each other. This is why when Christ was asked to give the Greatest Commandment, He gave two: Love God and Love thy neighbor. In saying this, the Son repeated what the Father had already told us through Moses.
The Power of Evangelization
Second Reading Commentary: 1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10
As Paul continues his letter to the Thessalonians, he acknowledges that in accepting him, they have accepted Christ, Jesus. He acknowledges that the faith of the Thessalonians is so strong that there is no need for him or the other Apostles to say anything to the people of Macedonia and Achaia.
The Thessalonians had taken the Word to Macedonia and Achaia and the people there had turned away from idols and had come to believe in the one true God and were awaiting the return of the Son. This is a demonstration of the power of evangelization.
Evangelization is nothing more than sharing the Word. When we share the Word with someone and they accept it fully and put all of their faith in it, they share it with others. As those people accept the Word and put all of their faith in it, they share it with others and so on and so on. This was the real success of Paul’s mission and how the Church grew among the Gentiles.
Most people do not like to talk about religion. It is the subject of many arguments so we shy away from such conversations. But in baptism, we are called to evangelize. We are called to share our faith and we should follow the example of the Thessalonians in doing so.
We should take the time to know enough about our faith to answer the tough questions when they are asked of us. If someone rejects the Word, that is their problem and not ours. Therefore, we should not fear rejection and we should not fear the challenge. If only one person in life listens to what we have to say about the Word, that is one soul saved. That is what evangelization is all about.
People often confuse evangelization with conversion. I personally do not believe in conversion because the way in which another person chooses to profess their faith is personal. It is between that person and God and it is their God given right to profess their faith in whatever way they choose. What matters is that they are open to receiving the Word and if that results in their having a change of heart and converting; again, it is their choice. God does not force Himself on us. Shame on us if we do not accept Him but, God does not force Himself on us.
Today’s second reading ends with Paul saying, “…Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath.” These words are the link to today’s reading from Exodus. Think about it. Do we show compassion for our neighbor and do we show love for our neighbor if we are unwilling to share God’s Word? Nuff said!
The Greatest Commandments
Gospel Commentary: Matthew 22:34-40
In Mark’s gospel of the Greatest Commandment, Mark 12:28-34, a scribe asked Jesus, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus replied, “The first is this…You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Today, we have Matthew’s gospel of the Greatest Commandment and it is one of the Pharisees who tested Jesus by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” This takes place immediately after the Pharisees had tested Jesus asking Him about paying taxes which was last week’s gospel. You would think that the Pharisees would have learned their lesson but a closed mind never listens.
The answer that Jesus gave the Pharisee in today’s gospel is basically the same that He gave to the scribe in Mark’s gospel but with a twist. To the Pharisee, Jesus said, “The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Why are these two commandments the greatest commandments and why is the whole law dependant on them? Let’s take a look at two reasons. First, loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength is something which should be automatic. We should not even have to meditate on the idea, we should just do it. But even for the best of us, it is not always like that because evil is all around us and the devil is always busy doing whatever he can to distract us and make us forget our love for God. But the devil does not have the last word unless we give it to him and we have a lot of help if we will only use it.
We have the Church and the sacraments and isn’t it great that the Eucharist and Confession are there for us to experience as many times as we want? The devil is always in front of us with his evilness but Christ is always there to strengthen us with His holiness, mercy and forgiveness. All we have to do is choose it.
We have prayer. There are many forms of prayer, both formal and informal. We can pray publicly or privately. But no matter how or when we pray, we should understand that prayer is nothing more than having a talk with God. Sometimes the best way to talk with God; is to just sit still, be quiet and let Him in and then listen to what He has to say.
We have Mary and the saints to intercede for us. Many Non-Catholics do not understand this. Some of them believe that Catholics worship Mary and the saints and that simply is not true! Have you ever asked your mother or father for something which they did not want to agree to? Did someone else talk to them on your behalf and change their mind or get them to go along with the idea? That is the power of intercession. Mary and the saints can and will do that for us if we ask them. Take a look at my Devotion to Mary page and my answer to why Catholics pray to her.
The second point I want to make is that if we obey these two commandments, we will obey all of the Ten Commandments. Think about it. If you break any of the Ten Commandments, you will also break the First Greatest Commandment because sin is a willful act against God. You will probably also break the Second because all of the others, except for keeping the Sabbath and taking the LORD's name in vain, are violations against our neighbor. If you break the Second Greatest Commandment, you will break the First. This is why in today’s gospel; Jesus said that the whole law depends on the Greatest Commandments.
In Mark's gospel, the scribe understood and agreed with Jesus and said that this was worth more than burnt offerings and sacrifices. So Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” If we obey the two Greatest Commandments, the Kingdom of Heaven will be ours and all we have to do is, wait for our turn to enter.
