30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today’s gospel is short, but powerful.  Jesus is being tested again.  When asked which commandment is the greatest, he quotes Deuteronomy 6:5, which captures the essence of the Jewish faith about loving the Lord God with everything one has.  But then he speaks of a second law about loving the neighbor as oneself.  And he says that the whole law and all of the prophets depend on those two commandments: love of God and love of neighbor.  Perfect answer.  No more need be said.

Our first reading from Exodus reminds us that the Lord God wants his people to care for their neighbors who have no one else: widows, orphans, and strangers.  God will hear their cry and he expects others to respond to their cry as well. Not doing so will incite God’s wrath.  The Lord is clear and quite serious about the matter.  Again, no more need be said.

In the second reading, Paul tells the Thessalonian Christians that they ought to be imitators of the Lord.   Who is it that Jesus thought needed care?  Whom did he seek out?  If we are to imitate the Lord, then we need to ponder who was close to Jesus’ heart, as the widow, orphan, and stranger, were close to his Father’s heart. 

Often Jesus sought out those who were excluded by others.  He also enjoyed being with children and blessing them, even though his disciples tried to push them along.  Jesus chose to be with and share a meal with sinners and tax collectors.  Prostitutes and those suffering from evil spirits were not welcome company to most people, but Jesus befriended them and loved them.  And by being with them without condemning them, all those people, young and old, good and bad, were changed and welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven. 

We need to imitate the Lord.  We need to have an open heart and a willingness to include others rather than exclude them.  We ought to ask the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to see those whom Jesus would have us love.  And then we need to do precisely that with everything we’ve got: heart, soul, and mind.  When we do that, God will be both glorified and grateful.