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| “Holy Trinity“ by Hendrick van Balen, 1620s |
Reading 1: Exodus 22:20-26
"You
shall not molest or oppress an alien,
for
you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt
You
shall not wrong any widow or orphan.
If
ever you wrong them and they cry out to me,
I
will surely hear their cry.
My
wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword;
then
your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans.
"If
you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people,
you
shall not act like an extortioner toward him
by
demanding interest from him.
If
you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge,
you
shall return it to him before sunset;
for
this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body.
What
else has he to sleep in?
If
he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate."
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Commentary on Ex 22:20-26
This
passage is taken from what is called “The Book of the Covenant” (see Exodus 24:7). This part of the “book” contains social laws
dealing specifically with interaction of the faithful with aliens (residents
living in the same region but of Gentile status). While the general rule was that the
Israelites were to remain separate (segregated) from these populations, the
covenant law clearly states that there should be peaceful cohabitation
reminding them that they too were once aliens in the Egypt
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51
R. (2) I love you, Lord, my
strength.
I
love you, LORD, my strength,
LORD,
my rock, my fortress, my deliverer,
R. I love you, Lord, my
strength.
My
God, my rock of refuge, my shield,
my
saving horn, my stronghold!
Praised
be the LORD, I exclaim!
I
have been delivered from my enemies.
R. I love you, Lord, my
strength.
The
LORD lives! Blessed be my rock!
Exalted
be God, my savior!
You
have given great victories to your king,
and
shown kindness to your anointed,
R. I love you, Lord, my
strength.
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Commentary on Ps 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51
Psalm
18 is a song of thanksgiving for a military victory. The psalmist, in these strophes, rejoices in
God’s saving power. The theme of the
“rock” is a reference to the solid nature of the faith foundation. The strophes
in this selection sound like a love song to God as David thanks the Lord for
his inheritance.
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Reading II: 1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10
You
know what sort of people we were (among) you for your sake.
And
you became imitators of us and of the Lord,
receiving
the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit,
so
that you became a model for all the believers
in
Macedonia
For
from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth
not
only in Macedonia
but
in every place your faith in God has gone forth,
so
that we have no need to say anything.
For
they themselves openly declare about us
what
sort of reception we had among you,
and
how you turned to God from idols
to
serve the living and true God
and
to await his Son from heaven,
whom
he raised from (the) dead,
Jesus,
who delivers us from the coming wrath.
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Commentary on 1 Thes 1:5c-10
Following his introduction, identifying himself and praising the
faithful of Thessalonika, St. Paul reminds his flock of how they were before he
came to them and before they became believers (“…a model for all the believers”). The apostle fairly rejoices over the success
the lived Gospel has had, turning them away from idols to serve the one true
God and his Son. This faith has spread
as a result, not only of his teaching, but their example as well.
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Gospel: Matthew 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."
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Commentary on Mt 22:34-40
The story of Jesus delivering the
Great Commandment is the fourth of the “Controversy Stories” in St. Matthew’s
Gospel (stories in which Jesus argues with the Jewish leadership). Jesus has
just refuted those Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection (v. 23-33)
and now is challenged by the Pharisees. The question posed by the “Scholar
of the Law” (probably a scribe; see also Luke 10:25-28) “…which
commandment in the law is the greatest?” is asked in a rabbinical sense,
meaning; which of the 613 distinct statutes was considered greatest. Within
this body of law, 248 of these precepts were positive and 365 were
prohibitions. In addition these precepts were further divided into “Light” and
“Heavy”. This was a fairly typical type of exchange for a rabbinical debate.
In answering Jesus quotes two
texts of the law that now form the foundation for a new morality in the Gospel.
He fist quotes Deuteronomy 6:5 “Therefore, you shall love the Lord,
your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”
This text forms part of the Shema, the Jewish profession of faith. This first
quote would not be surprising. What makes this exchange novel and important is
that Jesus adds the quote from Leviticus 19:18b “You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.” This juxtaposition of quotes makes them equally “Heavy” and there is
no parallel In Jewish literature.
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Reflection:
The
Great Commandment, as Jesus tells us, provides a foundational morality by which
we can evaluate all of our thoughts and actions. We are given two absolutes by which to
conduct our self-evaluation.
Let’s
think of an example to see how we might apply this foundational belief: Let’s say, for instance, we are at work and
we have just completed a difficult task.
As is customary, the entire team gets together and celebrates that
event. Your boss calls you up and
congratulates you specifically for your hard work and you notice that one of
your co-workers is obviously not thrilled with the attention you are getting
(probably thinking they worked as hard as you did).
In
this situation how do we live the Great Commandment? First, on the inside, we must hold our
success up to God. It was only through
his gifts that we accomplish anything worthwhile. If we do this sincerely, our attitude in
success must necessarily be one of humility.
After all, it was not through our effort alone that this task was
accomplished and certainly not in our control to make it successful. In addition to being constantly thankful to
God, our praise at times of joy is the hallmark of the Christian living the
Great Commandment.
Next
we must deal with our disgruntled co-worker.
We are called to “love our neighbor as our self.” How do we do that in this situation? If we are quick, we might ask to share the
accolade in the moment. Perhaps, in
keeping with our humility before the Lord, we invite that person to join us “up
front” or at least acknowledge, in sincerity, that what was done was a team
effort, pointing out other members of the team.
Praising our neighbor is on the same level of need as praising God. Jesus made it so with his pronouncement.
We
see from this example how difficult and complex living the Great Commandment
can be. We must constantly keep God (and
Christ) in the fore as we go about our daily lives. When we encounter others, the Lord invites us
to see in them the God-given spirit they possess and pay them the same
respect.
Love
the Lord – that is so hard for our selfish hearts. It is so easy to forget Him completely and
focus only on our own petty needs and problems.
Today our prayer must be that we find in our hearts the love of God and
are able to live that love, along with love of neighbor, well and fully.
Pax
[1]
ALTRE
[2]
The picture used today is, “Holy Trinity“ by Hendrick van Balen, 1620s
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and
is for private use only.
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