Scripture Readings
Exod 22:20-26 (cf 24:9-11) Ps 17 1 Thess 1:5-10 Matt 22:34-40
After the 10 Commandments, which are rather general, the Lord gave detailed rules for living. This mini-covenant contained practical laws and punishments, as we can see from today’s reading. A covenant is a formal contract made ritually. In this case a treaty in which the Lord promises favour and the people agree to undertake certain obligations. Moses sprinkled blood on the people to seal this covenant with the Lord. They then celebrated a sacrificial meal, eating and drinking in the Lord’s presence to confirm that the people now belonged to the family of the Lord.
Continuing our reading from the earliest surviving Christian document, Paul concludes his address to the Thessalonians with fulsome praise for them. He knows that they are chosen and loved by God because he has heard from others of the example they give. Especially for their imitation of Christ, and their acceptance of the word of the risen Lord, in spite of suffering persecution.
In the Gospel it is now the turn of the Pharisees to test Jesus. But they fare no better than the Sadducees last week. Again Jesus shows that he is the authoritative interpreter of the Jewish Scriptures. Even the detailed rules given to Moses can be summed up in the requirement to love God and your neighbour.
Psalm Response: I love you, Lord, my strength.
From My Heart to Your Heart
HOW CAN YOU SAY YOU LOVE ME?
Haside Rabbi Levi Ytzhak of Ukrane was fond of saying that he had learned the true meaning of love from a drunken peasant.
While visiting the owner of a tavern in the Polish countryside, the rabi overheard the conversation of two men seated at the nearby table. Both had had a fair ammount to drink and both were feeling quite mellow. With their arms around one another, they were professing how much each loved the other. Suddenly, the older of the two, Ivan, looked at his friend and asked , “Peter tell me, what hurts me?” Bleary.eyed but slightly sobered by such question Peter looked at Ivan and answered with a question of his own: “How do I know what hurts you?” Ivan’s response came quickly. “If you don’t know what hurts me how can you say you love me?”
You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. In these two commandments hang the whole law, and the prophets also. (Math. 22: 34-40)
If you knew the pain of your worst enemy, you would become his best friend.
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