20260821 A COMMANDMENT THAT CANNOT BE ENFORCED
21 August 2026, Friday, 20th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | Ezekiel 37:1-14 |
A vision of Israel's death and resurrection
The hand of the Lord was laid on me, and he carried me away by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley, a valley full of bones. He made me walk up and down among them. There were vast quantities of these bones on the ground the whole length of the valley; and they were quite dried up. He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ I said, ‘You know, Lord.’ He said, ‘Prophesy over these bones. Say, “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. The Lord says this to these bones: I am now going to make the breath enter you, and you will live. I shall put sinews on you, I shall make flesh grow on you, I shall cover you with skin and give you breath, and you will live; and you will learn that I am the Lord.”’ I prophesied as I had been ordered. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a sound of clattering; and the bones joined together. I looked, and saw that they were covered with sinews; flesh was growing on them and skin was covering them, but there was no breath in them. He said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man. Say to the breath, “The Lord says this: Come from the four winds, breath; breathe on these dead; let them live!”’ I prophesied as he had ordered me, and the breath entered them; they came to life again and stood up on their feet, a great, an immense army.
Then he said, ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole House of Israel. They keep saying, “Our bones are dried up, our hope has gone; we are as good as dead.” So prophesy. Say to them, “The Lord says this: I am now going to open your graves; I mean to raise you from your graves, my people, and lead you back to the soil of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. And I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live, and I shall resettle you on your own soil; and you will know that I, the Lord, have said and done this – it is the Lord who speaks.”’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 106(107):2-9 |
O give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his love has no end.
or
Alleluia!
Let them say this, the Lord’s redeemed,
whom he redeemed from the hand of the foe
and gathered from far-off lands,
from east and west, north and south.
O give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his love has no end.
or
Alleluia!
Some wandered in the desert, in the wilderness,
finding no way to a city they could dwell in.
Hungry they were and thirsty;
their soul was fainting within them.
O give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his love has no end.
or
Alleluia!
Then they cried to the Lord in their need
and he rescued them from their distress
and he led them along the right way,
to reach a city they could dwell in.
O give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his love has no end.
or
Alleluia!
Let them thank the Lord for his love,
for the wonders he does for men:
for he satisfies the thirsty soul;
he fills the hungry with good things.
O give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his love has no end.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:18 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open my eyes, O Lord, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 22:34-40 |
The commandments of love
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees they got together and, to disconcert him, one of them put a question, ‘Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ Jesus said, ‘You must 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 resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also.’
A COMMANDMENT THAT CANNOT BE ENFORCED
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 106:2-9; Mt 22:34-40]
If we feel empty and meaningless in life–even when we are doing well, with a successful career, a thriving business, and a happy family–what is missing? Of course, many of us feel this way when things go wrong, too. We may consider ourselves failures in our careers and businesses, go through one broken relationship after another, feel lonely, lose our passion for living, and wonder what we are doing on this earth. Life seems to lack meaning and purpose, and we may even wish to exit it altogether.
Indeed, we become like the dry bones of Israel. Everything feels lifeless because we feel stripped of everything. The Israelites in exile felt the same way. They had lost their homeland, their Temple, and their kingdom. Exiled far away in Babylonian captivity, what hope was left for them? “By the rivers of Babylon–there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion. For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” (Ps 137:1, 3-4). Indeed, we can deeply empathise with their sadness and loss.
What caused their exile? The prophets repeatedly attributed the fall of Israel and Judah to their abandonment of the Covenant that God made with them. The exile was a consequence brought upon themselves through their own sins, especially their infidelity to God. “We have offended you deeply, failing to keep the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances that you commanded your servant Moses” (Neh 1:6-7; cf. Jer 25:8-11). Moses had warned them that if they did not keep the commandments, “The Lord will scatter you among the peoples; only a few of you will be left among the nations where the Lord will lead you. There you will serve other gods made by human hands, objects of wood and stone that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. From there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and soul” (Dt 4:27-29). Indeed, Moses urged them to “keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long… Observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey” (Dt 6:2-3).
What were the commandments Israel was required to keep? They are summarized in the Shema: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (Dt 6:5). Loving God with their entire being summarises all the other commandments Moses gave to the people. Indeed, the Decalogue given by God to Moses can be reduced to loving God and loving neighbour. The first three commandments summon us to give ourselves to God, placing Him first and making Him the centre of our lives. The other seven commandments oblige us to love our neighbours. This is what the Lord affirms in the Gospels.
Without the love of God, we cannot love our neighbour rightly. Conversely, without love of neighbour, our love for God is, at most, merely intellectual. Our Lord brings these two commandments together. Why can’t we truly love our neighbour if we do not love God? After all, many good people in the world serve the poor without faith in God, purely out of humanitarian motives. They may even appear more caring and loving toward the poor, the sick, and the marginalised than some people of faith.
The truth is that when we do not love God or know Him, we cannot see God in our brothers and sisters; we see them merely as fellow human beings. This is why those who serve the poor without faith offer humanitarian aid alone–they recognise suffering in their fellow human beings and reach out because they identify with that pain. However, that kind of outreach can, at most, offer temporary relief. Such love is not entirely pure or selfless because we are not loving them for who they are, but for who we are. This explains why we feel more for the suffering of our loved ones than for strangers–we identify more closely with those we love. We respond spontaneously to the needs of our children, spouses, and parents because we are one with them; we cannot be happy unless they are happy. Therefore, when we reach out to our loved ones, it is for our own sake as much as theirs.
When our love for our neighbours is not anchored in the love of God, the most we can say is that we are attempting to fulfil the commandment to love our neighbour as ourselves. This can lead to frustration when we cannot relieve their pain and suffering, leaving us feeling worried, anxious, and troubled. We may even become angry with God and the world. Many people work for the poor and oppressed, only to become disillusioned, bitter, and resentful toward a world that seems indifferent. Some even resort to extremes, taking up arms to champion their cause. Eventually, they lose faith in both humanity and God, falling into despair. I have seen many people involved in social work who lose their faith entirely when faced with challenges, becoming self-righteous and unhappy.
Worse still are those who attempt to love their neighbour without seeing God in them because they view those they help as lesser beings. They extend help out of condescension: they are the ones suffering, so we, being wealthy, share some of our abundance with them. We feel good about ourselves and may even boast about our generosity. In this situation, we do not truly identify with them. We give simply out of our abundance, and we may even exploit our charity for publicity so that others will applaud our good deeds and support our projects or businesses.
However, those who love God first will love their neighbour not merely because that person is suffering, but simply because they see God in them. They recognise them as true brothers and sisters in Christ. In loving God, we naturally desire to love everyone whom God loves. The motivation to love transcends basic humanitarianism; it is rooted in recognising Christ within others. Seeing the image of God in them, we love them as we love the Lord. We recognise that people have not only physical and material needs, but emotional and spiritual hunger as well. Our outreach goes beyond material aid to care for the whole person–someone who needs our love, tender care, and compassion. Unless we see others as an extension of the Eucharist–the Body of Christ–we will not hold the same reverence for them.
This capacity to love as God loves cannot simply be commanded. Love involves deep conviction and affection–it cannot be manufactured by sheer willpower alone. While we can perform acts of love without feeling through a decision of the will, loving passionately requires heart; otherwise, we love like dry bones. This is why we must experience being loved by God first before we can love like Him.
The requirement to love God and neighbour cannot exist as a cold mandate, for we cannot force a person to love, nor can we give what we do not have. However, the Good News is that “God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 Jn 4:9-10). As St. John concludes: “Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us” (1 Jn 4:11-12). Clearly, the love of God and the love of neighbour are inseparable if we are to love as God loves us–unconditionally, totally, and selflessly. God loves us for our own sake; His love is faithful, constant, and free. This love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5). Let us allow God to love us, so that we may truly love Him and our neighbours.
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserve
