You Shall Love Your Neighbor As Yourself

10-29-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

Some of us may have experienced how parents, especially mothers, instinctively give more care and attention to any of their children who is impaired, has a disability or is younger than their siblings. The parents tend to “understand” with a disabled child and are more likely to overlook their “transgressions” and to address an “off ense” against them by their siblings. Since we were made in the image of God, it is safe to say that parents, who in their vocation collaborate with God in His benevolent ordering of this world, derive this natural bias towards the disadvantaged from God who is Love itself. God loves us all, but the disadvantaged among us are particular objects of God’s compassion and love. To ensure that they are cared and provided for, God made a Law of Love to protect them from the greed of others. This is the central theme of the Reading of the Liturgy this weekend, that God is love and His greatest commandment is the Law of Love.

The First Reading is a part of the Covenant Code, a corpus of solemn rules given by God to His people between Exodus 20:22 to 23:33 which can be seen as extrapolations or applications of the principles of the decalogue which was given in Exodus 20. The law prohibiting the abuse of aliens, widows, orphans and the poor can be seen as an application of the 7th Commandment: You Shall Not Steal. These laws prohibited economic offenses against vulnerable populations. The poor have a just claim to our excess goods. Thus, not only is it stealing when we take from them what is already theirs, but it is also a form of stealing to refuse or fail to help the poor with our surplus when we have the opportunity and means to do so. God promises to deal ruthlessly with those who refuse to be merciful and kind to those on the fringes of life.

The Gospel passage presents Jesus as the Son of David, greater than Solomon, the wise king, who sits in Jerusalem and answers wisely the questions that are brought before Him. It was common practice for Rabbis to debate among themselves which of the Commandments took precedence over others, and the choice made by each Rabbi provided an insight into his hermeneutical approach (interpretation of the Torah). The Pharisee who questioned Jesus about which Commandment was the greatest must have been thinking in this light. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 together to show that love is the greatest law and the love of God is practically unachievable without the love of neighbors. To love God with all that we are and have should be the greatest aspiration of mankind and our love of Him can be made visible and verifiable only when we love our neighbor. Jesus concluded by making the Law of Love the foundation on which the prophets and the whole law are built.

May we be aided by Grace to let the Law of Love truly come alive in our daily living; may we truly seek to know, love and serve God through our generous self-giving for the comfort and benefit of our neighbor, especially the poor and needy who possess a particularly loving space in the heart of God; and may we never grow tired of doing what is just and good.

Please be kind and may God bless you.

Fr. Manasseh