BE GOD’S, YOU SONS/DAUGHTERS OF THE MOST HIGH

First Reading: Ex 22:21-27
Second Reading: 1 Thes 1:5-10
Gospel: Mt 22:34-40

On this thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time the readings are about the greatest commandments which we as Christians need to keep always at any cost, despite whatever the circumstances might be. In the Gospel, Jesus is approached by a lawyer who questions him about the most important, rather the greatest commandment in the law. This lawyer comes to trap Jesus with his question. The lawyer’s intention is not of getting any new insight or teaching from Jesus. In Mt 22 we have series of group questioning Jesus. The Pharisees, Sadducees and Herodians were silenced by Jesus through His answer for their questions. This outrages the Jewish leadership to send some professionals to trap Jesus. Hence, they send a lawyer of the law, who is responsible for the interpretation of the Jewish Law, the Torah. There are almost 613 laws in the first five books of the bible (the torah) which a Jew has to follow. To cull out one particular law as most important and greatest would be a difficult job. But, Jesus does it. He brings out the everyday prayer of Jews from Deut 6:4-9 as the greatest commandment. Like today’s the angelus which we recite three times a day, the Jews recite Deut 6:4-9 three times a day. Through the recitation of this prayer they are ought to remember their duty towards God as loving Him with their whole self (heart, soul, and mind).

The central message of all the prophets in the bible is about caring for the weak. Prophets like Jeremiah, Malachi and Hosea are the champions in speaking against Israel for their ill treatment towards the poor, strangers, widows and the weak. In our first reading from the book of Exodus, God commands the Israelites to be magnanimous towards the stranger, widow, poor and the orphan. This social duty arises from their historical condition. The commandment says, “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Ex 22:21). Their historical condition of being a slave once upon a time in an align soil and whose cry the Lord God heard and set them free through the intervention of Moses should serve as the basis for their kind treatment towards others. The Lord God warns them that if they mistreat any weaker class in the society, He would hear their cry and act on their behalf as He acted on the behalf of Israel when they cried out to Him in an alien soil. The message of Exodus is this; be kind to others, especially towards the weak. The Lord God freed Israel not just give liberty to them alone [to a particular group of people] but through them reach out to many others who are living in slavery. God acted mightily for the freedom of Israelites but that was only the beginning of the great redemption story. When Jesus equals the commandment to love others as great as loving God, He gives a call to all of us to be gods to others. Psalm 82:6 says, “You are ‘gods’; you are all sons of the Most High”. Being sons and daughters of God is to represent God to others just as we represent our earthly parents in our appearance, words, attitudes and behaviours.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus tells us to be salt of the earth and light of the world (Mt 5:13&14). This Word of God is realized fully in the community of Thessalonica. St. Paul appreciates the well conducted life of the Thessalonians whose exemplary life serves as a proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ (1 Thess 1:7-9). We too can be like those Thessalonians if we keep the greatest commandment of loving God and neighbour. Jesus summarizes the whole of Old Testament laws and Prophetic teachings into these two commandments. The escalation of war at different parts of the world is the result of unloving. The world is losing humanness because it has forgotten its original place in the history of creation. God created humans in His image and likeness to represent Him on the earth. We as humans have duty to show God to others. God loves each one of us personally as though there is no other besides you and me. This is what God means about loving a person with one’s whole heart, soul and mind; loving a person with an undivided heart and in an unconditional way. Yes, dear friends the present world needs human gods to show the way. The human dignity can be restored through our kindness. Let this be our task today.

To conclude, let us reflect and see how many persons do I love? How many persons do I like? Loving and liking are not the same. We need to love more than liking a person. The social media is another wonderful platform to know new people and love them. It has options to express our likes, dislikes and love in emoji’s. Do we use those options with all our heart, soul and mind? Often, we use those emoji’s either to build up a conversation or to escape from texting. We need to be gods not only in places where we are present physically but also in places where we are present virtually. Let us love God with our whole self so that we may love others as God loves us which will make them feel the love of God. This is what we call being gods to other and sons/daughters of the Most High.

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