Love Your Neighbor - Missionary Commentary for Sunday, October 29

Readings for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Exodus 22:20-26
Psalm 18:2-3a, 3b-4, 47+51
1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10
Matthew 22:34-40

Download shareable .pdf

USCCB Link to Readings

What does love “look” like? 

A middle-aged couple who had settled into the rhythm of married life – family, kids, work, home – would say to each other as they left for the day, “I love you.” One of them, it does not matter which, was exhausted at the end of the day. Their spouse, to cheer them up, said “I love you” to which they responded, “What does that look like today?” 

The readings today describe what love looks like. Love is attentive to the alien, the widow and orphan, the poor. Love is strength, a refugee, a stronghold. Love goes forth in faith. Our first love is God, and the love of God needs all that we have – our whole, undivided, heart, the depth of our soul, and all the powers of our mind. Our second love is our neighbor who needs the same care for their well-being that we give to ourselves. 

This is the way of the Lord. This is the way of love. These two commandments are what keep all the commandments together, they give order to the other 611 commandments, and a way to understand them in and through our relationship with God and neighbor. This is what love looks like. 

In Saint Matthew’s Gospel, we do not get the follow-up question, and “who is my neighbor.” For Matthew, the word neighbor is sufficient. It is the human being that lives near you. There are two objects of our love – God and neighbor – not three (God, neighbor, self). In one sense, love of God asks everything of us where love of neighbor could ask anything of us – water for the thirsty, food for the hungry, care for the sick, befriending the prisoner. 

The missioner seeks to be neighbor to any one they meet, they live near, because of their love of God. 

When asked “what does that look like today,” the compassionated spouse said “I will cook dinner, do the dishes, and put the kids to bed. You rest.” 

Notes on the Readings

First Reading
Moses speaks the way of the Lord. Do not oppress the alien, do no wrong to widows or orphans, do not extort the poor, be sure that those in your debt have what they need to survive. 

Psalm
The psalmist sings of the many ways God loves us. The Lord is our strength, fortress, refugee, shield, stronghold, and salvation. Because God has loved us – grace comes first – we can love God and others.

Second Reading
St. Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, affirms their faith and their mission. “In every place your faith in God has gone forth…” He recalls their conversion from idols to service of “the living and true God.” 

Gospel
Jesus is asked “which commandment in the law is the greatest?” The context for this question involves at least three overlapping dynamics. Jesus in on mission, he is in Jerusalem, where his “earthly” mission ends. Second, the Pharisees are “testing” him, seeing him as an adversary. Third, the lawyer uses one of the most controversial questions for Jews at the time. There are 613 commandments; 365 are negative, “thy shall not,” and 248 are positive, “thy shall.” Jesus responds with two positive commandments – love God with your whole heart, soul, and mind (Deut. 6:5) and love your neighbor as yourself (Lev. 19:18). Jesus goes on to say that “the whole law and the prophets” depend (some translate it as ‘hang.’). 

Notes and Commentary by Don McCrabb, D. Min 
Executive Director of the U.S. Catholic Mission Association 

Many of us are concerned about the war between Israel and Hamas. The Mission Consult on Thursday, October 26, 2023, at 2 pm ET, will focus on what we know about mission in the Holy Land and how we can respond. REGISTER HERE.

Visit our website at www.uscatholicmission.org/go-forth for podcasts and gatherings that help you animate our baptismal call to mission.

Pray for missioners. May they be instruments of peace. 
May God bless you in all the ways you Go Forth…