The Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2023)
“The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."
—Matthew 22:40
One of the assignments that students find most challenging is condensing a chapter or book into a brief, concise summary. It’s quite difficult to take the words and ideas of another person, reflect on them, discern what is most important in the text, and then present the most important points or themes in your own words. And yet, as teachers and professors can attest, this is an invaluable way of helping students hold on to what is most important for their studies.
In a sense, this is the task Jesus faces in the Gospel proclaimed on this Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. This text is a continuation of the passages we have heard over the past two Sundays, and we find Jesus in conversation with the religious leaders, who continue to question him, hoping to trip him up by asking for impossible answers.
In this Sunday’s passage, Jesus is asked which of the commandments of the Law is the most important. If Jesus says that any one commandment is greater than another or, worse yet, implies that some commandments can be dismissed, then they will have him! Scripture scholar, Barbara Reid, OP, also observes that “The Pharisees were trying to see if Jesus could match other famous teachers of the time who could summarize the law. Rabbi Hillel, for example, summed up the commandments thus: ‘What is hateful to you do not do to you neighbor’” (Abiding Word, Year A).
“The school of Christ is the school of love. In the last day, when the general examination takes place, there will be no questions on the text of Aristotle, the aphorisms of Hippocrates, or the paragraphs of Justinian. Love will be the whole syllabus.”
—Saint Robert Bellarmine
Jesus isn’t caught in this trap, however, and, in answer their question, he does exactly what many students today dread: he summarizes the main points of the Law in two clear, concise instructions.
First, bringing together the principles of the first three of the Ten Commandments (which are directed to our relationship with God), he responds by paraphrasing the Book of Deuteronomy (6:4-9):
You shall love the Lord, your god,
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
But, Jesus doesn’t stop there. (After all, there are seven other Commandments addressing how we relate to other people) And so, he continues by paraphrasing a text from the Book of Leviticus (19:18):
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.
Jesus has fulfilled the assignment by summarizing the most important values contained within the Commandments in two very clear statements which are themselves drawn from the Law. And, as we can see, these are not mutually exclusive commands. Instead, they complement one another: Our love for God is expressed in the way that we love our neighbor. Pope Francis has summarized what is at stake in these Readings, when he reflected:
Once again, Jesus helps us go to the living and gushing wellspring of Love. And this wellspring is God himself, to be loved completely in a communion that nothing and no one can break…. And the proof of our journey of conversion and holiness always consists in love of neighbor. This is the test: if I say “I love God” and do not love my neighbor, it does not work. The verification that I love God is that I love my neighbor. As long as there is a brother or sister to whom we close our hearts, we will still be far from being disciples as Jesus asks us.
This sense of connection between our love of God and the way that we love our neighbor is expressed in powerful and vivid language in the First Reading, taken from the Book of Exodus. Moses—speaking as God’s ambassador—is offering a series of instructions that form a sort of commentary on the Ten Commandments. The foundational value in these Readings is that we are obliged to treat others the way we would want to be treated ourselves and we must protect and value foreigners, widows, and orphans—all of whom represent non-people and marginalized—in the same way we would protect and value our own family members and friends.
In the end, this Sunday’s liturgy presents for us a lesson on the relationship between love and justice. While the love of God always comes first, our response to that love should take us outside of ourselves, as we are asked to share with others the love and compassion that we ourselves have received from God.
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.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-Collect for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
