God Calls Us To Love Our Neighbours

 

We love our neighbours in obedience to God’s command.

Reflection on Today’s Readings, 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A, October 29th, 2023
Texts: Exodus 22:21-27; Psalm 18:2-4,47,51; 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10; Matthew 22:34-40 

Today, God calls us to love our neighbours. Jesus Christ tells us, in the gospel reading, that the love of neighbour is like the love of God. In His words: "You shall love the  Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” It is like it because of two things: 1. It does not necessarily lead to love of God; and 2. The love of God necessarily leads to it, the love of God manifests through it. 

When we say the love of God and love of neighbour are inseparable, it does not mean they are cause and effect. If the relationship is that of cause and effect, we will not find it hard to love our neighbours. We will forgive one another easily; we will care for one another easily. There will also be no need to tell us to love our neighbours. That God still tells us to love our neighbours proves it does not come automatically from love of God. 

We cannot truly love God if we do not love our neighbours

We love our neighbours in obedience to God’s command. The love of God comes with the command to love our neighbours. We cannot truly love God if we do not love our neighbours. If we cannot love our neighbours, we should not try to love God, because we will displease Him. Hence, He says, “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him ... You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. If you do afflict them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry; and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword”. 

God tells us, today, that His cares for the helpless is because He is compassionate. We read, “And if he cries to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.” What is compassion? It is the ability to feel the pain and suffering of another person. Hence, it is to suffer with another person. God is compassionate because He feels your pain and your suffering; He feels my pain and my suffering. He suffers with us. God simply reveals to us, today, that He is with us in our pains and suffering. He tells us we are not alone. His compassion will not allow Him to leave us alone.  

God calls us to be compassionate 

On our own part, God reveals the wound in us, which is the loss of compassion. We fail to care for one another because we have no compassion for one another. We do not feel the pains and sufferings of our neighbours. God calls us, today, to feel the pain and suffering of our neighbours. God calls us to be compassionate as He is compassionate. He calls us to love our neighbours because He loves them. To love God is to love what He loves, care for what He cares for.   

Love transform us into the likeness of whom we love. Hence, in today’s second reading, St. Paul says, “You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the  Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit; so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.” The love of God transforms us into the likeness of God. If we love God, we will be like Him.

The love of God should shine forth in our lives

We should not only proclaim the love of God, it should shine forth in our lives. Hence, the words of St. Paul to Thessalonians apply to us: “For not only has the word of the  Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.” The love of God shines forth in the love of neighbours. 

Prayer  

Almighty ever-living God, increase our faith, hope and charity, and make us love what you command, so that we may merit what you promise. Amen (Collect) 

Fr. Andrew Olowomuke