30th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A
Sunday, October 29, 2023
Over the past few years, I have noticed a sharp increase in traffic cameras on Northern Boulevard where our church parking lot extends to. I regularly obey traffic rules and signs but I must admit, noticing these cameras and not wanting to be fined for speeding or running red lights makes me extra careful when traveling on the Boulevard. Of course, I don’t mind obeying these laws because I understand that they save lives. That is the spirit of why these laws exist.
The first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy are known in Jewish tradition as the Torah (in Hebrew, Torah can mean instruction, teaching, guidance and law). These books contained the Mosaic Law, 613 commandments revealed to Moses by God. Jews believed in keeping the Mosaic Law, dos and don’ts, believing that their works will get them to heaven. In today’s Gospel, a Pharisee, a scholar of the law, asks Jesus which commandment in the law is the greatest? The Bible tells us he did this to test Jesus and we can easily see why this would be an important question for his fellow Jews observing the entire Law. Perhaps their focus was on the letter of the law.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17). Jesus in His reply showed faithfulness to the Torah, Jewish laws and traditions. His response, a familiar one to us, emphasized the spirit of the Law: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40).
When we steer our faith through a finite series of dos and don’ts, we are not living to our calling to be the light of the world. We follow the letter of the law but not the spirit of the law. Jesus’ life, and death on the cross as a sacrificial lamb for us show us His fulfillment of both the letter and spirit of God’s Law.
When we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and love others as ourself, we lead others to Him as did the church in Thessalonica. St. Paul writes to the Thessalonians in today’s second reading: “you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only in Macedonia and in Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has gone forth” (1 Thessalonians 1:7-8).
Let us be guided by Jesus’ example by following not only the letter but also the spirit of God’s law and lovingly serve God and neighbor.
Go in Peace to Love and Serve the Lord.