Homily for 29 October 2023

 

My dear friends today we celebrate the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A. The first

reading taken from the Book of Exodus continues giving more specific social and religious

laws after the Ten Commandments are proclaimed. The first law refers to the offering of

sacrifices to pagan gods. Whoever offered sacrifice to any gods instead of to Yahweh alone,

was liable to death. While this law was often broken this penalty was rarely applied although

we do see this happening when Elijah executed the prophets of Baal in the book of 1 Kings.

The second law refers to our treatment of aliens or migrants or strangers. A good measure of

our moral character is found in how we treat a stranger. People often find it easy to treat their

own flesh and blood well, but God commands us to have a concern for others – including

the stranger. The third law refers to the treatment of widows and orphans.

The widows and orphans were the weakest and most vulnerable members of society. Because

of their special vulnerability, God commanded special care and concern for them, promising

to protect them. The fourth law pertains to charging interest on loans. Interest was prohibited

on loans made to the poor and the taking of collateral had to be reasonable. The loan is seen

as assistance to a neighbour, and to make money from his need would be immoral. Retaining

one’s outer garment which was used as temporary collateral overnight was strictly forbidden.

A majority of these laws lay down before us how we are to treat our fellow human beings. As

I record this homily, the war between Israel and Palestine continues to claim more lives. The

war between Ukraine and Russia shows no signs of ending and closer home at Manipur the

violence continues unabated. The enduring hatred and strife between ethnic and national

groups shows just how little humanity has progressed. As God has promised to hear the

prayer of the poor man when he cries out to the Lord, we earnestly pray that we first and

foremost recognise that each person is a human person made in the image and likeness of

God and that peace be restored to the world.

The second reading taken from St. Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians continues from

where we left off last week. Paul and his colleagues had preached in Thessalonica with the

intention of pleasing God rather than the people. The Thessalonian Christians had

experienced the integrity of Paul and his colleagues and even though they were suffering,

having seen their authenticity the new Christians in Thessalonica responded by imitating Paul

and his colleagues and as they did so, they were also imitating the Lord. As they live now

inspired by the Holy Spirit and in the conviction that Christ’s death and resurrection have

guaranteed their own salvation, they experience joy amid all their difficulties. Paul

encourages them further by saying that they have become powerful witnesses throughout

Greece. Their main strength behind their witness value was that the Thessalonian Christians

had turned from the worship of idols to the worship of the living God. They had moved from

the worship of that which is fake to that which is real. This change brought about a difference

in their lives which was noticed by all. The proclamation of the Gospel was enhanced by their

witness. At the end, we have the reference to the Parousia or the second coming of Jesus as

that was an integral part of the preaching and belief of St. Paul.

The witness value of the Thessalonian Christians impacted everyone and that too in a day and

age when there was no modern means of communication. Today we do have everything we

need to communicate – the internet, mobile phones etc. What is our witness value? And the

best way to evangelize is to live an authentic Christian life. Are we by our lives being true

witnesses of Christ?

The gospel passages the last few Sundays have been about disputations between Jesus and the

religious authorities regarding the authority of Jesus. And today’s gospel passage is almost

like a finale. The 1st reading gave us details of many smaller laws and in the gospel, a legal

expert from among the Pharisees asks Jesus one last question to test him, “Which

commandment in the law is greatest?” Jesus’ reply combining the love of God and love of

neighbour echoes the response of the ancient rabbis “What is hateful to you do not do to your

neighbour. That is the whole Law.” 

So how does one love God with all of one’s heart, soul and mind? In the Spiritual Exercises,

St. Ignatius of Loyola presents before us a meditation on the 3 classes of persons which I

believe helps us to understand today’s gospel better. He describes three kinds of people: the

postponer, the bargainer, and the free person. The postponer desires to live a life of service in

imitation of Christ but feels that there are many more important things that he has to attend to

first. So every time we have put off doing God’s work before we achieve something else in

life we have behaved like the postponer. The bargainer also desires to serve God but he

bargains with God: “I’ll follow you if these things happen in my life.…” Such a person does

not fully trust God. The last person the truly free person is motivated solely by the service of

God. So when this person has to make a choice, he or she chooses the option that will give

greater glory to God rather than to one’s self. Such a person loves God with all of one’s heart

i.e. emotions, soul i.e. passion and mind i.e. intellect. What kind of a person are you?

The second part of the commandment relates to loving our neighbour. Back when I was in the

seminary at times we used to have close to 100 brothers staying in the same house, and

generally meal times resembled a 100-metre sprint race. If you are late you would have to be

satisfied with only the fragrance of the meat. Human as we all are, we want the best pieces

for ourselves quite ignorant of the fact that there are others still in queue. This was a

challenge that was time and again put before us- to be sensitive to the needs of others in the

community. To love the neighbour as ourselves is to make a conscious choice and act upon it.

When we love God’s people, we are always, and at the same time loving God. Pope Francis

in his encyclical Lumen Fidei highlights the importance of the Christian faith as inspiring the

service of justice, rights and peace as well as loving relationship to God. Our Faith should

therefore inspire social action and work for the poor and the marginalized. Our faith has to be

lived out in action.

Let us make it our prayer today that we become truly free persons and practise the most

important commandment that Jesus gave us – the commandment of Love. May God bless us

all.