Oct 20, 2014
Readings:
Exodus 22:20-26
Psalm 18:2-4, 47, 51
1 Thessalonians 1:5-10
Matthew 22:34-40
Jesus came not to abolish the Old Testament law but to fulfill it
(see
Matthew 5:17)
And in today's Gospel, He reveals that love - of God and of
neighbor - is the fulfillment of the whole of the law (see
Romans 13:8-10).
Devout Israelites were to keep all 613 commands found in the
Bible's first five books. Jesus says today that all these, and all
the teachings of the prophets, can be summarized by two verses of
this law (see
Deuteronomy 6:5;
Leviticus 19:18).
He seems to summarize the two stone tablets on which God was said
to have engraved the ten commandments (see
Exodus 32:15-16). The first tablet set out three laws
concerning the love of God - such as the command not to take His
name in vain; the second contained seven commands regarding love of
neighbor, such as those against stealing and adultery.
Love is the hinge that binds the two tablets of the law. For we
can't love God, whom we can't see, if we don't love our neighbor,
whom we can (see 1 John 4:20-22).
But this love we are called to is far more than simple affection or
warm sentiment. We must give ourselves totally to God - loving with
our whole beings, with all our heart, soul and mind. Our love for
our neighbor must express itself in concrete actions, such as those
set out in today's First Reading.
We love because He first loved us (see 1 John 4:19). As we sing in today's Psalm,
He has been our deliverer, our strength when we could not possibly
defend ourselves against the enemies of sin and death.
We love in thanksgiving for our salvation. And in this become
imitators of Jesus, as Paul tells us in today's Epistle - laying
down our lives daily in ways large and small, seen and unseen; our
lives offered as a continual sacrifice of praise (see John 15:12-13;
Hebrews 13:15).