Pastor's Letter 20231029 - 29 October 2023 - Love of God and our Neighbor

[Father Michael]

October 29^th,2023

30^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Master, what is the greatest commandment?”

A Message from Father ^†Michael

Today’s Theme:  “Love of  God and Our Neighbor”

Reflections on Today’s Scripture

(Exodus 22:20-26)  Today’s First Reading, which concerns social legislation, tells us that keeping the law was not merely a means of maintaining an ordered society, but a way of communing with and manifesting one’s union with the Lord, Himself.  As motivation, people were asked to recall their days as outsiders in Egypt, and to exercise the compassion learned from Yahweh toward the less fortunate.  God told the Israelites there must be no discrimination against, or exploitation of, the weak members of society.

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(1 Thessalonians 1:5-10)  ^†Paul’s conviction in his vocation, his faith in Jesus, and his trust in the Spirit were contagious.  In a short time, he had established a viable, model community in Thessalonica.  Moreover, it is evident from the text that the vast majority were Gentiles from pagan, polytheistic backgrounds.  ^†Paul encouraged the Thessalonians by telling them their exemplary lives have become known far and wide.

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(Matthew 22:34-40)  Jesus tells us that the whole of religion can be summed up in two commandments of love.  To know the law requires wisdom; to keep it requires love.  The question of law was a favorite of both the Pharisees and the Saducees, despite all their differences.  The question of the “greatest commandment” was asked of all reputable rabbis.  Jesus’ answer was not entirely original—He quoted two well-known prescriptions from the Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18,)—saying nothing His audience had not already heard.  But no one had combined these two laws, concerning love of God and neighbor, parallel to, and equal in, significance.  

Loving our Neighbor as Ourselves

Only when we accept ourselves as “fundamentally good,” and begin to love ourselves, will we be able to love other people, as the Lord commanded.  

People who are filled with “self-loathing,” and “self-hatred,” are not going to love others.  They will project these feelings onto them, blaming and castigating them for what they do not like in themselves.  The main point is this: we see other people not as they are, but as we are….

When we cast people in bad light, it is a sign that we are ill-at-ease with ourselves.  Those who are not at peace with themselves spread a contagion of conflict around them.  

We must first love ourselves properly before we can love others appropriately.  If we love ourselves in the wrong way, we become incapable of loving anyone else!  Few people love themselves in such a way as this.  

There is an idea that “self-love” is wrong, even sinful.  It surely can be if it regresses into selfishness, or egoism.  But there is a form of self-love that is healthy, and good, and without which we cannot really love others. 

One cannot fly without wings, nor grow without roots.  We can’t offer warmth to others if our own “fireplace” is cold and empty.  We can only love with the amount of love that is in us.  Whether we are conscious of it or not, we do love others precisely as we love ourselves.

It's very important, then, to have a healthy love and respect for ourselves.  This is where love starts, but of course, it isn’t meant to end there.  

All true love of self overflows in the form of love of others and of God.  We see this in that some people are easy to love, because they are “loveable.”  Contrarily, others are clearly and obviously flawed.  But that is the real test of love—"Where is there no love, sow love—where you put love, you will find love” (St John of the Cross, Carmelite Priest and Doctor of the Church, 1542-1591)  

The world has saturated our thoughts about love with human ideology.  We are steeped in popular notions absorbed from television, movies, movies, magazines, books and social medial.  We tend to think of love as emotional, sensual and uncontrollable.  We fall in love, as if we stumble over it in the dark; or wake up to find that love has gone, as if it were a coward that had fled at daylight.  But we are called to be empowered by love, as we believe God empowers us by His love for us!  

Love of God means that we wordship him only—not our families, jobs, possessions.  Loving our neighbors means we are “patient, kind and bear all things” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7.)  To understand this, we must first ask God to teach us what love is—what those injunctions mean in our lives.  Only if our love is rooted in the love of God will it bear fruit for the salvation of others.  Love comes from God, but the decision is ours.  

Jesus didn’t say loving God and loving our neighbor were the same thing.  He did say they were like two sides of the same coin.  If we want the “total Gospel,” we must have both.  Jesus showed us precisely how to do this.  When we follow His example, we will be able to love our neighbor as God loves us—freely, generously and without reservation.

May God Richly Bless You!

God is our Refuge.docx

To view a recording of today's Holy Mass, click here;

 

Edited October 29, 2023 by Father Michael