What Is the Greatest Rule of Life?
Introduction: May you continue to experience the great love God
has for you and may you share that love with others by the way you care for them.
The message that the world proclaims about love is “if it feels
good, do it!” People are given the idea that love is the pleasurable act one gets
from another person. It makes one feel warm and fuzzy. Yet if we read the Word of
God, we find out that love is the decision to think of others more than ourselves.
It means caring enough about others that one is willing to risk everything so that
others know that they are loved. That is exactly what Jesus did in His becoming
human and living among us. It resulted in His death. Yet Jesus made the decision
to do all He could so that people would come to know the great love God has for
them and they in turn would share that message with others.
Today we are reminded of the two great commandments: “Love God”
and “love one’s neighbor as oneself.” The section of the Mosaic law that is read
today focuses on a couple aspects of these two great commandments: no other divinity
is to be worshiped except God, and the need to treat others fairly, especially the
widows, the orphans, the aliens, and the poor. The psalm proclaims God as source
of strength and protection. In the Second Reading, St. Paul addresses the people
of Thessalonika urging them to continue the acts of faith that they have already
begun: turning away from idolatrous worship, and caring for one another. In the
Gospel, Jesus’ proclamation of the two great commandments comes in answer to the
Pharisees’ attempt to trap Jesus in a situation that they could then use against
Him.
First Reading: Exodus 22:21-27. ‘If you mistreat any widow
or fatherless child, my wrath will burn against you.’
Commentary: These are
the very primitive laws of the Old Testament, the heart of the first law-code laid
down for Israel in the desert of the Exodus, before the Israelites even reached
the Holy Land. ‘Primitive’? Does our modern society equal them and the values they
express? The principle is to help everyone who needs help, even foreigners, widows
and orphans – just as God helped the Hebrews when they were slaves in Egypt. Men
and women, made in the image of God, are God’s representatives on earth, and must
continue God’s work of caring and healing. Anyone in need must not be humiliated,
but must be given full human dignity, allowed to stand tall before his or her neighbours.
The creditor may not enter the debtor’s house to hassle him, the worker must be
paid on time to get his dinner, the homeless must get back his cloak for the night.
The vulnerable are not to be exploited. Jesus will put this, ‘You must love your
neighbour as yourself’, but there too he is only quoting the Old Testament (Leviticus
19.18).
Responsorial Psalm 18:2-3a. 3b-4. 47, 51ab. I love you, LORD,
my strength.
The psalmist describes God in terms of a great warrior and defender.
God is the source of strength and the victor over the enemies of those who trust
in the LORD. For the true believer, God is in control and the only thing that the
believer must do is to acknowledge the supremacy of God.
Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10: ‘You turned away
from idols to serve God and to wait for his Son.’
Commentary: At every
Mass after the consecration we remind ourselves that Christ will come again, and
the Thessalonians to whom Paul is writing were especially alert to this ‘Second
Coming’ as they waited for Christ to come from heaven. Paul had taught them that
Christ has conquered death, that death is no more, and they mistakenly took this
to mean that Christians would not physically die. Paul will answer this difficulty
later in the letter. We don’t know what this ‘Second Coming’ of Christ will be,
but for Christians history has a purpose and a direction. We do know that each of
us will face Christ for our individual judgement when we die. There will be no question
of Christ doling out suitable penalties to me. ‘No human being can see God and live’.
Faced with the stunning purity of the glory of God I know that I will be filled
with longing and love, but will know that I am not fit to enter into the pure and
overwhelming love of God. Only when the dross is purged away will I be fit to enter
Christ’s embrace.
Gospel: Matthew 22:34-40: ‘You shall love the Lord your God
and your neighbour as yourself.’
Commentary: Familiarity
with Jesus’ answer to the question about the greatest commandment blunts our awareness
of its startling directness. Answers could be given, singling out one of the ten
commandments as the greatest, the most important basis of society. A frequent answer
to the question was and is the Golden Rule, existing in many cultures: ‘Do not do
to another what you would not have done to you’. This is basically a selfish answer,
protecting my own interests. By contrast, Jesus’ answer slams home, turning away
from self to God. ‘Love’, not ‘obey’ or ‘adore’ or ‘fear’ or ‘reverence’. Love is
not the warmth of companionship or of sex, but is the willing generosity of mother
to helpless young child or daughter to helpless old parent, of wife to alcoholic
husband or husband to paralysed wife, seeking no reward but the happiness of the
receiver. Paul gives a useful check-list in First Corinthians 13. The First Letter
of John gives a shorter check-list: ‘No one who fails to love the brother or sister
whom he can see, can love God whom he has not seen’. The real interests of the recipient
of love may not always be easy to find, but the spirit of giving is unmistakable.
Reflection: What is the purpose of God's law and commandments?
The Pharisees prided themselves in the knowledge of the law of Moses and the ritual
requirements of the law. They made it a life-time practice to study the 613 precepts
of the Torah - the books of the Old Testament containing the Law of Moses - along
with the numerous rabbinic commentaries on the law. The religious authorities tested
Jesus to see if he correctly understood the law as they did. Jesus startled them
with his profound simplicity and mastery of the law of God and its purpose.
God's love rules all: Jesus
summarized the whole of the law in two great commandments found in Deuteronomy 6:5
- "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your
soul, and with all your might" - and Leviticus 19:18 - "you shall love
your neighbor as yourself". God's love directs all that he does - His love
is holy, just, and pure because it seeks only what is good, beneficial, and life-giving
- rather than what is destructive, evil, or deadly. That is why he commands us to
love - to accept and to give only what is good, lovely, just, and pure and to reject
whatever is contrary.
God puts us first in his thoughts:
God is love and everything he does flows from his love for us (1 John
3:1, 4:7-8, 16). God puts us first in his thoughts and concerns - do we put him
first in our thoughts? God loved us first (1 John 4:19) and our love for him is
a response to his exceeding goodness and kindness towards us. The love of God comes
first and the love of neighbor is firmly grounded in the love of God. The more we
know of God's love, truth, and goodness, the more we love what he loves and reject
whatever is hateful and contrary to his will. God commands us to love him first
above all else - his love orients and directs our thoughts, intentions, and actions
to what is wholly good and pleasing to him. He wants us to love him personally,
wholeheartedly, and without any reservation or compromise.
The nature of love - giving to
others for their sake: What is the nature of love? Love is the gift of
giving oneself for the good of others - it is wholly other oriented and directed
to the welfare and benefit of others. Love which is rooted in pleasing myself is
self-centered and possessive - it is a selfish love that takes from others rather
than gives to others. It is a stunted and disordered love which leads to many hurtful
and sinful desires - such as jealousy, greed, envy, and lust. The root of all sin
is disordered love and pride which is fundamentally putting myself above God and
my neighbor - it is loving and serving self rather than God and neighbor. True love,
which is wholly directed and oriented to what is good rather than evil, is rooted
in God's truth and righteousness (moral goodness).
How God loves us: God
loves us wholly, completely, and perfectly for our sake - there is no limit, no
holding back, no compromising on his part. His love is not subject to changing moods
or circumstances. When God gives, he gives generously, abundantly, freely, and without
setting conditions to the gift of his love. His love does not waver, but is firm,
consistent, and constant. He loves us in our weakness - in our fallen and sinful
condition. That is why the Father sent his only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
to redeem us from slavery to sin and its disordered cravings, desires, passions,
and addictions. God the Father always seeks us out to draw us to his throne of mercy
and help. God the Father corrects and disciplines us in love to free us from the
error of our wrong ways of thinking and choosing what is harmful and evil rather
than choosing what is good and wholesome for us. Do you freely accept God's love
and do you willingly choose to obey his commandments?
We do not earn God's love - it
is freely given: How can we possibly love God above all else and obey
his commandments willingly and joyfully, and how can we love our neighbor and willing
lay down our life for their sake? Paul the Apostle tells us that "hope does
not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the
Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). We do not earn God's
love - it is freely given to those who open their heart to God and who freely accept
the gift of the Holy Spirit. Ask the Lord Jesus to flood your heart with his love
through the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Love grows with faith and hope:
What makes our love for God and his commands grow in us? Faith in God
and hope in his promises strengthens us in the love of God. They are essential for
a good relationship with God, for being united with him. The more we know of God
the more we love him and the more we love him the greater we believe and hope in
his promises. The Lord Jesus, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, gives us a new
freedom to love as he loves. Paul the Apostle writes, "For freedom Christ has
set us free... only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh [sinful
inclinations], but through love be servants of one another" (Galatians 5:1,13).
Do you allow anything to keep you from the love of God and the joy of serving others
with a generous heart?
Lord Jesus, your love surpasses all. Flood my heart with your
love and increase my faith and hope in your promises. Help me to give myself in
generous service to others as you have so generously given yourself to me.
Daily Quote from the Early Church
Fathers: Loving God with heart, mind,
and soul, by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD)
"Worthy is he, confirmed in all his gifts, who exults in
the wisdom of God, having a heart full of the love of God, and a soul completely
enlightened by the lamp of knowledge and a mind filled with the word of God. It
follows then that all such gifts truly come from God. He would understand that all
the law and the prophets are in some way a part of the wisdom and knowledge of God.
He would understand that all the law and the prophets depend upon and adhere to
the principle of the love of the Lord God and of neighbor and that the perfection
of piety consists in love." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 13)
a “whole” in my heart: “You
shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart.” —Matthew 22:37
We disciples of Christ are called to holiness. We are also called
to “whole-liness.” We are to love God with our whole heart, our whole soul, and
our whole mind (Mt 22:37).
It all begins with God’s love for us. “The love of God [is] poured
out in our hearts” (Rm 5:5). God’s poured-out love fills our hearts with love for
Him and for others (Mt 22:37). So “we, for our part, love because He first loved
us” (1 Jn 4:19). Now we are full of God’s love.
True love, however, is not satisfied with being full. Love wants
to grow and is always searching for a never-ending increase of still more love.
Impelled by love (2 Cor 5:14), we ask God to give us a new heart (Ez 36:26). Now
God pours out His love again (Rm 5:5) and our whole heart is filled. Overflowing
with love, we can’t help but respond to God with more love. Therefore, we ask God
to “enlarge” our hearts (Acts 20:32) so we can love Him more deeply. We even reach
the point where we love God so much that we abide in God and God in us (1 Jn 4:16).
This cycle of love continues until the day of our death. On that
day, we should have a huge heart of love for the Lord. At our death, we who love
the Lord with our whole heart will rejoice as we see “what God has prepared for
those who love Him” (1 Cor 2:9). We will see Him “face to face” (1 Cor 13:12).
Prayer: Father, I can’t love You if I don’t love Your people.
Help me to love myself, then love my neighbor as myself (Mt 22:39). “Praised be
the Lord, I exclaim, and I am safe from my enemies.” —Ps 18:4. “Praise the Lord,
O my soul; I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God while
I live” (Ps 146:1-2).
The personal action for today: When have I experienced being loved unconditionally
by another being? What was it like to be loved not for something I did, but simply
because the other being made a decision to love and care for me beyond any normal
reason? When have I made a conscious choice to love someone unconditionally, not
because of what they have done or will do for me, but simply because I made a decision
to love them? How can I better reflect to others the love that I have experienced
from God’s loving me?
Saint Antônio de Sant’Anna Galvão: God’s plan in a person’s life often takes unexpected
turns which become life-giving through cooperation with God’s grace.
Born in Guarantingueta near São Paulo, Antônio attended the Jesuit
seminary in Belem, but later decided to become a Franciscan friar. Invested in 1760,
he made final profession the following year and was ordained in 1762.
In São Paulo, he served as preacher, confessor, and porter. Within
a few years, Antônio was appointed confessor to the Recollects of Saint Teresa,
a group of nuns in that city. He and Sister Helena Maria of the Holy Spirit founded
a new community of sisters under the patronage of Our Lady of the Conception of
Divine Providence. Sister Helena Maria’s premature death the next year left Father
Antônio responsible for the new congregation, especially for building a convent
and church adequate for their growing numbers.
He served as novice master for the friars in Macacu and as guardian
of St. Francis Friary in São Paulo. He founded St. Clare Friary in Sorocaba. With
the permission of his provincial and the bishop, Antônio spent his last days at
the Recolhimento de Nossa Senhora da Luz, the convent of the sisters’ congregation
he had helped establish.
Antônio de Sant’Anna Galvão was beatified in Rome on October
25, 1998, and canonized in 2007.
Holy women and men cannot help calling our attention to God, to God’s creation, and to all the people whom God loves. The lives of holy people are so oriented toward God that this has become their definition of “normal.” Do people see my life or yours as a living sign of God’s steadfast love? What might have to change for that to happen?
