20201025 BUILDING A GRACIOUS SOCIETY
25 October, 2020, Sunday, 30th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Green.
First reading | Exodus 22:20-26 © |
If you are harsh with the widow and orphan, my anger will flare against you
The Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell the sons of Israel this:
‘“You must not molest the stranger or oppress him, for you lived as strangers in the land of Egypt. You must not be harsh with the widow, or with the orphan; if you are harsh with them, they will surely cry out to me, and be sure I shall hear their cry; my anger will flare and I shall kill you with the sword, your own wives will be widows, your own children orphans.
‘“If you lend money to any of my people, to any poor man among you, you must not play the usurer with him: you must not demand interest from him.
‘“If you take another’s cloak as a pledge, you must give it back to him before sunset. It is all the covering he has; it is the cloak he wraps his body in; what else would he sleep in? If he cries to me, I will listen, for I am full of pity.”’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 17(18):2-4,47,51 © |
I love you, Lord, my strength.
I love you, Lord, my strength,
my rock, my fortress, my saviour.
My God is the rock where I take refuge;
my shield, my mighty help, my stronghold.
The Lord is worthy of all praise,
when I call I am saved from my foes.
I love you, Lord, my strength.
Long life to the Lord, my rock!
Praised be the God who saves me,
He has given great victories to his king
and shown his love for his anointed.
I love you, Lord, my strength.
Second reading |
1 Thessalonians 1:5-10 © |
You broke with idolatry and became servants of God; you are now waiting for his Son
You observed the sort of life we lived when we were with you, which was for your instruction, and you were led to become imitators of us, and of the Lord; and it was with the joy of the Holy Spirit that you took to the gospel, in spite of the great opposition all round you. This has made you the great example to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia since it was from you that the word of the Lord started to spread – and not only throughout Macedonia and Achaia, for the news of your faith in God has spread everywhere. We do not need to tell other people about it: other people tell us how we started the work among you, how you broke with idolatry when you were converted to God and became servants of the real, living God; and how you are now waiting for Jesus, his Son, whom he raised from the dead, to come from heaven to save us from the retribution which is coming.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ac16:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn14:23 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him.
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.’
BUILDING A GRACIOUS SOCIETY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [EX 22:20-26; PS 18:2-4,47,51; 1 THESS 1:5-10; MT 22:34-40]
When we look at the world today, where people have become so self-centered and individualistic, we cannot but see a divided humanity. The gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider. Half of the world’s wealth belongs to the top 1%. 70% own 3% of the world’s wealth! If we want to build peace among all peoples, we need to build a more gracious society, one that is giving and forgiving.
Indeed, the heart of the Bible is love of God and of neighbour. It seems ironical that primitive laws like those given by Moses to the people were much more gracious to the poor than our so-called modern laws. Already in the time of Moses, the people were commanded to be hospitable to migrants and to welcome them. They were not to oppress them or take advantage of them. The reason given was simply that they once “lived as strangers in the land of Egypt.” We remember the words of our Lord in the gospel, “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.” (Mt 7:12) Not many countries welcome migrants and often migrants are treated as second class citizens and even marginalized, even in rich countries. They too were commanded to take special care of those who were underprivileged or helpless in society like the widows and the orphans who were without financial support. “You must not be harsh with the widow, or with the orphan; if you are harsh with them, they will surely cry out to me, and be sure I shall hear their cry; my anger will flare and I shall kill you with the sword, your own wives will be widows, your own children orphans.”
When it comes to loans and collaterals, these primitive laws were certainly more compassionate than our so-called modern laws that are supposed to be just and fair. Moses said, “If you lend money to any of my people, to any poor man among you, you must not play the usurer with him: you must not demand interest from him.” We have loan sharks harassing and taking advantage of the poor. We also have the legal loan sharks that charge high interests for the loans they provide. God told the people of Israel that they were not to charge interest on the loans they gave to the poor. Why? Because those who had extra money were obliged to help those who had less and were in need. The money that God has given to us does not belong to us but for the good of everyone. Of course, there is nothing wrong with charging interest to those who are rich because they are using the money to make themselves richer. When it came to offering collateral, the Lord said, “If you take another’s cloak as a pledge, you must give it back to him before sunset.” The heart of God is always compassion. “It is all the covering he has; it is the cloak he wraps his body in; what else would he sleep in? If he cries to me, I will listen, for I am full of pity.” Indeed, the primitive laws formulated 4000 years ago seem to put us all the shame today.
How can we love our neighbor without conditions and with compassion? The truth is that loving our neighbour is not as simple as we think. There are different levels of charity that we practice in life. There are some of us who would give to our loved ones. When we help those whom we love, the Lord in the gospel says, “if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” On this level of charity, it is of the lowest. Then we have many who give out of guilt because they see themselves living such a rich life and others are in poverty. So they give a small portion of their wealth away to soothe their guilt. Such giving is not truly love of others.
It is motivated by love of self, just as in giving to our loved ones. Because we are so identified with our loved ones, we feel their pain more intensely. Their suffering is ours. So in loving them, we are actually loving ourselves more. When we give out of guilt too, it is not so much because we feel for the poor and suffering, but for ourselves. We have no peace knowing that we have so much and others have so little. But the most obvious way of giving that is more for ourselves is when we give to further our personal and business interests. We want our names to be honoured and be glorified for all to see. The Lord reminded us, “when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Mt 6:3f)
True giving means to give to all without exception, even to our enemies. This is what St Paul says, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Rom 12:20f) This is the test of charity and love of neighbour when we help those who are suffering simply because they are suffering. In other words, we see ourselves in them. They are not just another human being, different from us but like us all, we need food, shelter, compassion, acceptance, forgiveness and to be freed from pain. But more than that, we see the image of God in them. They have a soul, a dignity bearing the image of God. Regardless whether they are sick, poor, demented, or physically challenged, they all bear the image of God.
It is for this reason that Jesus brought the two commandments from the book of Deuteronomy and Leviticus together. 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.” Love of God and love of neighbour and self are intrinsically related. How we love God will be seen in how we love our neighbour. One cannot speak of loving God without loving our neighbour. “Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.” (1 Jn 4:20f) The measure of our love for God is our love for our neighbours.
The love of God, however, is the first commandment, which means it has primacy. This is because unless we love God with all our heart, with all our mind and with all our strength, we will not be able to love others in that manner. Only when we love God, would everyone become lovable to us. Only in loving God totally, can we see the image of God in our neighbour and recognize their true dignity, not just as someone suffering but as one like us, created to share in God’s image and likeness. When we look at the poor, it will no longer be one of condescension but one of identification and appreciation knowing that they bear the image of God. Seeing God in them will make us want to help them in a holistic manner, not just providing for their physical and material needs but also to attend to their affective and spiritual needs as well. Most of all, loving God and being loved by Him we receive His Holy Spirit in our hearts to love the way He has loved us. The reason why we find it difficult to love others is because we focus too much on ourselves and on other people instead of focusing on God. When we see how much God loves us, we will be able to see others with His eyes.
St Paul today asks us to be models of the love of God in our lives just as he was a model to the Christian community: “You observed the sort of life we lived when we were with you, which was for your instruction, and you were led to become imitators of us, and of the Lord.” We are asked to break away from idolatry, which is the worship of self and money. Rather, we are called to become “servants of the real, living God” in leading people to our Lord who came “from heaven to save us from the retribution which is coming.” We must demonstrate our faith in action, as St James reminds us that faith without good works is dead.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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