“HONEY FROM THE ROCK”
Daily Reflections, 25th October 2020.
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SUNDAY, THIRTHIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Reading 1: Exodus 22:20-26 God tells the Israelites that there must be no exploitation of, or discrimination against, the weak members of their society.
Reading 2: 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10 Paul tells the Thessalonians that their exemplary lives have become known far and wide.
Gospel: Matthew 22:34-40 Jesus tells us that the whole of religion can be summed up in two commandments of love.
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LOVE: THE MARK OF CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP!
The readings of today invite us to reflect on the fundamental principle on which the life of every disciple of Christ is founded: love of God and love of neighbor. Sometimes we can be lost in false ideas and notions of love of God and love of neighbor. Therefore, it is worth reflecting on this theme time to time. A teacher of the law asks Jesus a question in view of trapping him: “Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” It’s clear, from the context of this passage that the relationship between Jesus and the religious leaders of His time was beginning to become contentious. They were beginning to test Him and were even trying to trap Him. However, Jesus continued to silence them with His words of wisdom.
Jesus answers the teacher: “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” (Mt 22:37-39). Jesus thus, gives a complete summary of the moral law found in the Ten Commandments. The first three Commandments reveal that we must love God above all and with all our might. The last six Commandments reveal that we must love our neighbor. The moral law of God is as simple as fulfilling these two more general commandments.
In the early centuries of Christianity thousands of people left the world, became monks, and went to live in the desert. They wanted to devote their lives to loving and serving God, and thus ensure their eternal salvation. In the desert they lived very strict lives according to a rigid rule. They fasted, prayed, and undertook severe penances. Once in a particular part of the desert there was a monk called Moses. In fact, he was an abbot. He had a great reputation for holiness, and was looked up to by many. Well, it was coming up to Easter, so the monks met to see what they should do to prepare for it. They were very anxious to do something special to show their love for Christ, who suffered and died for them. They decided to fast the entire length of Holy Week. Having made the decision, each monk went off to his bare and lonely cell, there to fast and pray. However, about the middle of the week, a couple of wandering monks came to visit the cell of Abbot Moses. As they were starving, he took pity on them and cooked them a little vegetable stew. To make them feel at ease he took a little of it himself. Meanwhile the other monks had seen the smoke rising from their abbot’s cell. It could only mean one thing - he had lit a fire to cook some food. In other words, he had broken the solemn fast. They were shocked and saddened at seeing the weakness of their abbot, and in the eyes of many of them, he fell from his pinnacle of sanctity. In a body they went over to confront him.
The abbot came out to meet them. Seeing judgement in their eyes, he asked: 'What crime have I committed that you look at me like this?’ "You've broken the solemn fast, the fast we undertook out of love for our crucified Lord', they answered. "So I have’, said he. ‘I have broken the fast. I have broken the commandment of men, but in sharing my food with these brothers of ours, I have kept the commandment of God that we should love one another. Do you not think that Christ would have done the same? Did he not eat and drink with sinners, even though the religious leaders were scandalised and called him a glutton? ‘My friends, you have torn the Gospel of Christ in two. There are two great commandments, not one. Christ said that we were to love the Lord, our God, with all our hearts and all our souls, and that were to love our neighbour as ourselves. Hence it is far better to eat meat and drink wine, than by detraction to devour another person’s character. We did not come into the desert to get away from people, and to be alone with God. We came here to find other people - to find them and love them in God’. The monks went away, humbled but wiser.
This, I believe, is the message of today’s Gospel. It’s easy for us to make the same mistake those monks made, the same mistake that scribes and the Pharisees made - to think what there is only one commandment, namely to love God. We can easily deceive ourselves. Our love for God can so easily be mere love of self. To love self only is to be loveless, and lovelessness cannot be kept hidden. A loveless life is essentially unhappy, frustrated, and desructive. If we do this, then our religion becomes an escape, and our holiness an illusion. We are living only half of the Gospel. Love of others is the fruit of our love of God. There is an awful sterility about the lives of those who claim to love God, but in reality dispense themselves from all obligations to love other people. There are others who go to the opposite extreme. Christ showed us how to live the total Gospel, that is, how to love God and to love our neighbour as well. He is our model.
The first reading of today taken from the book of Exodus explains the command of God to the people of Israel: love of neighbor. In what way can my love towards my neighbor become perfect? When we love our neighbors we desire that they always be partakers in God’s eternal life. We wish and pray for them that they may live all the days of their life in grace. Thus they become the partakers of eternal life given to us gratuitously by Jesus. When we love our neighbor in this manner we do not undermine their physical and other needs. We remember what Jesus said ‘what you do to the least of the brethren, you do it unto him.’ We reach out to people who are in need in the ways possible to us. This is our love for our neighbor. St. Paul in his first letter to Thessalonians in today’s second reading reminds them the purpose of their conversion to the Christian faith, which is to serve God and to serve his only Son Jesus who has revealed to us the Father and the Spirit.
Ponder, today, upon the call to love God and your neighbo. Let us pray that our Lord teach us to love others, and so prove our love for him and for our heavenly Father.
Prayer: Lord help me to love You so that I may love others. Amen.
Copyright ©2013-2020 ©JoyCat, Joy of the Catholic Life: see www.joy-cat.blogspot.com.
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