THERE IS ONLY ONE COMMANDMENT, THE COMMANDMENT OF LOVE

XXX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Matthew 22:34-40

During Jesus’ time, the group of the Pharisees had already a big influence over the people and that influence would grow stronger after the destruction of Jerusalem. With their single-mindedness about the Law, they managed to achieve the survival of the Jewish people and find a new way to keep alive the faith in Yahweh (the Lord), without the temple and without priests. Their ideals and their attitudes were very different from the ones of the Sadducees, who were traditionalists in questions of religion and collaborationists in political matters. The Pharisees were radicals and fundamentalists, being very strict in all matters concerning the Law. And that’s where they entered into conflict with Jesus, even though, in their ideals, they were the closest to Jesus. However, Jesus could not accept their strict legalism, which did not allow them to take into account the suffering of the common people. Confronted with Jesus who was led by the freedom of the Spirit, they saw in him an enemy and joined the Sadducees to get rid of Jesus.

Trying to put Jesus to the test, they approached and asked him a question: Which is the greatest commandment in the Law? And Jesus put forward a straight answer: There are only two commandments: the first and most important is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” And the second is “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” In the end, there is only one commandment - the commandment of love, in which the love of God and the love of our neighbour go together. It is a fallacy to think that we may love God while ignoring the others with whom we live. How can we love God, if we do not recognise his image in the lives of our neighbours? How can we call God Father, when we do not accept the others as brothers and sisters?

In a way, it is very easy to be a Christian. We do not have plenty of rules and norms like the Jewish People. We have only one commandment, the commandment of love. And we will be judged by that commandment.

Nowadays, the word love is easily misunderstood with passion, pleasure and lust, which lead only to self-indulgence, which is selfishness, that is the opposite of love. True love leads us to pay attention to the needs of the others and gives us the strength to suffer for the benefit of the others.

In the first reading, taken from the book of Exodus, we are told how to behave towards all those who are in need of being supported and protected. In the Exodus, God points out three concrete situations in which are called to show love to the ones who suffer: the alien (the stranger), the orphan and the widow and the poor who borrowed money.

God reminds the people of the times when they experienced suffering and oppression because one they lived in foreign land and were treated as slaves, They are advised to do not the same to the foreigner living among them

Nowadays, there are plenty of people living far away from their homeland. Some emigrated in search of work and of a better life and they are ready to go through unthinkable trials in order to achieve that. Others are refugees who run away from persecution and war. They are welcomed in very few countries; they spend months (years) in refugee camps and are treated harshly. The first reading is a clear warning for all those who refuse to see in the alien - the emigrant and the refugee - a fellow human being, a child of God like them: one day, they will go through the same painful experience.

The orphan and the widow stand for all those who experience the loneliness and the struggle for survival. They need to be protected and defended. They need that we make ourselves their neighbours. We may remember the drug addicts or those who suffer from incurable diseases. They cannot be abandoned to themselves but need our compassion and our care.

Finally, the passage (Ex 22:25) deals with the money lenders, telling them that they should not demand interest; instead they must pay attention to the plight of the poor and God will listen to the cry of the poor.

How different is our society today, where high interest is demanded from all those in need, be it individuals or countries. The lending of money has become a big business, aiming at the highest possible profit. In the end, the money lending becomes a form of exploitation, forcing the poor into an abject situation, while the rich become ever richer.

Let us learn with Jesus to allow our hearts to be touched by the pain of others and to be compassionate with all those who suffer.

LOVED AND CHOSEN

XXIX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5

With a thankful heart, Paul remembers his mission among the Thessalonians, praying for them. He gives thanks to God because they showed their “faith in action worked for love and persevered through hope”. (1 Th 1:3).

This passage brings to mind my own experience, mainly in Lubengele, Chililabombwe. I found so many people profoundly committed, strong in their faith and living guided and supported by hope, the hope that they find in Jesus Christ. They accepted me as one of their, confiding in me and entrusting me with their joys and their sorrows. We walked together in faith, having Jesus as our way.

Speaking to the Thessalonians, Paul told them: “We know, brothers, that God loves you and that you have been chosen”. (1 Th 1:4) These words apply to all of us: We know that God loves and that we have been chosen. And we cannot keep silent about it. This is a good news that we cannot keep for ourselves. It is a secret that we cannot keep, that we have to broadcast far and wide. This love that we receive from God impels us to share it so that others mays experience the same love. 

In the Catholic Church, this Sunday is called the Mission Sunday or the World Mission Day. For this year, Pope Francis put forward the following theme: “Mission at the heart of the Christian faith”. To be a missionary is a must because we believe. Once we have experienced being loved and being chosen, we become witnesses of that love and we are always ready to explain the reasons of our believe and to announce to all far and near that Jesus is the Saviour, that he is the way, the truth and the life (Jn 14:6).

The faith in Jesus Christ is not something that we can hide. How can we hide the fact that we live guided by faith, “rooted and built up in him (Jesus Christ)”? (Col 2:6) Without being missionary, the Church “would no longer be the Church of Christ, but one group among many others that soon end up serving their purpose and passing away.” (Pope Francis). “The Church’s mission, then, is not to spread a religious ideology, much less to propose a lofty ethical teaching.” (Pope Francis). The Church’s mission is to lead people to Christ and to facilitate their encounter with him, so that they may feel loved and chosen.

THE WEDDING ROBE

XXVIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Matthew 22:1-14

The parable of the wedding banquet of the king’s son is very revealing. Salvation is presented as a feast, a wedding feast and a banquet is always part of a big feast, mainly a wedding feast.

In Isaiah, God had promised to prepare for all peoples a great banquet with the best foods and best wines. Everybody will rejoice, because “the Lord will wipe away the tears from every cheek; he will take away his people’s shame everywhere on earth”. “He will destroy Death for ever”, and all lips will sing songs of victory (Is 25:6-10)

In the book of Revelation, myriads of people will gather for the marriage of the Lamb (Rev 19:6-7) and rejoice singing God’s praises.

The parable of the wedding banquet makes as well an interpretation of the history of salvation. There was a first group invited to the banquet who refused to take part in the banquet, presenting all kinds of excuses, even senseless excuses. Presenting a refusal without any valid reason, the parable is an indictment of those who rejected the invitation and it is not difficult to understand that they stand for the people of Israel. That’s why those with a standing among the people tried to entrap and catch him (Mt 22:15)

Presented with the rejection of those who had been invited, the king decided to open the palace’s gates and to call everybody to the banquet. So the “servants went out on to the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests.” (Mt 22:10). We may think that the king took this action out of frustration with the behaviour of those who had shown to be unworthy of his invitation. However, as we can find in the first reading, from the beginning God had a plan of universal salvation and the people of Israel were chosen and set apart to facilitate the fulfilment of that plan. With their unfaithfulness, it was as if they had become an obstacle to that plan. The parable shows clearly that the revolt of the people of Israel cannot stop God’s plan from being fulfilled.

The parable ends with a saying that sounds strange: “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Mt 22:14). It is strange because the parable shows a different reality: of those called all but one were accepted; all but one entered the kingdom hall and sat at the table of the Lord. They were called in the streets, unexpectedly, without much time to prepare themselves. Maybe, they were already prepared. In Bemba, the proverb says: Uwaitwa, tafwala bwino. Once called, we must not delay. We must ready to answer the call, God’s call.

In that big crowd, there was one who should not be there and he was asked: “How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?” And he was thrown out into the dark. 

What was that wedding garment? The parable does not say. However, in his letters, speaks several times of what should wear: 

“put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Ro 13:14); 

“put on the breastplate of faith and love” (1 Tea 5:8);

“Put on the whole armour of God” (Ep 6:11)

The conclusion of the parable - “For many are called, but few are chosen.” - comes as a warning for us to be faithful, so that we may sit at the Lord’s table and rejoice in his presence

IGNORING GOD’S MESSENGERS

XXVII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Matthew 21:33-43

The first reading and the gospel in this Sunday’s liturgy speak of a vineyard planted with great care and treated with great love. Looking back at his work and examining himself, the owner says: “What could I have done for my vineyard that I have not done?” (Is 5:4) In spite of that, the owner got nothing: “He expected it to yield grapes, but sour grapes were all that it gave.” (Is 5:2). And so he was very disappointed and he is ready to abandon his vineyard. 

Isaiah makes it clear that the owner is the Lord and the vineyard stands for the people of Israel. And God is making a public accusation against his people. Indeed,

“He expected justice, but found bloodshed,

integrity, but only a cry of distress.” - Is 5:7

The people of Israel went astray and turned against God. By doing that, they turned against each other with oppression, exploitation and violence. And we cannot recognise them as being God’s people. 

The image of the vineyard can be applied as well to the Church of God and the harsh words of condemnation may also be deserved by the Church, that is by ourselves, because of our unfaithfulness and because of the violence which can be found among ourselves.

In the parable of the wicked tenants, Jesus interprets the history of the people of Israel, accusing them as well of unfaithfulness. They do not want to recognise God and his lordship over them; instead, they want to become the owners of the vineyard, forgetting about the true owner and his demands. They kill the Son, so that they may keep the property for themselves alone. They did not care about the consequences and that we reap what we sow. We can never claim as ours what is borrowed or was entrusted to us. We will face judgement for whatever we do. Jesus asked people about the consequences of the tenants’ criminal action, and the crowd answered: “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will deliver the produce to him when the season arrives”.(Mt 21:41). These words are a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place in the year 70 AD.

The parable stresses the fate of the Son, who was killed by the tenants. When the landowner sent the Son, he was aware of the danger, but he hoped for a peaceful solution: “They will respect my son”, he thought (Mt 21:3t7). The Son as well must have been well aware that his life would be at risk, but he accepted to go. Both the Father and the Son hoped for a good outcome. Instead of that, we had a tragedy, because the tenants did not have respect even for the Son. It was not the Father who killed the Son, but those criminals who had lost all sense of dignity, honour and respect.

Do we accept God’s lordship over us? Do we give back of what we produce? Or, like the wicked tenant, do we want to be the lords of ourselves, rejecting God and his authority over us?