The first reading from the Book of Exodus (Ex 22: 20-26), enunciated the constituent parts of practical love in ancient Israel - not molesting or oppressing a stranger, not maltreating the widow or orphan, lending money to the poor without interest, and returning what was taken as a collateral to the owner in due time. In ancient Israel, the stranger, the widow and the orphan were considered as being poor because they may not have had access to the land to cultivate their crops or rear their own herds from which they could produce milk and meat or trade them as a source of income. The Jews in this first reading were asked to be kind to strangers because they were once strangers in Egypt. This advice, seemed to be in accord with the Mosaic code of “an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth,” for it urged the people of Israel not to avenge on strangers the ill-treatment they received in Egypt, for the strangers were not responsible for the Jewish predicament in Egypt. This piece of advice given to the people of Israel, is still relevant today. We should remember Jesus’ saying, “do to no one what you will not like done to you” (Mt 7:12).

The context of the Gospel of today was that the Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, came to Jesus with a narration which they believed disputed the doctrine of the resurrection of the death. It was a story of a woman who was discontinuously married to seven brothers because she lost multiple spouses to death. They wondered at the resurrection of the dead - to which of the brothers will she be wife to since she had been married to each of them. Jesus explained to them that in the next life, people do not marry because they are like the angels. Thus, Jesus’ reply silenced the Sadducees.

The above background clarifies the opening statement in today’s Gospel (Matt 22:34-40), “When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees they got together and, to disconcert him, one of them put a question, 'Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?'” Though the Pharisees were looking for opportunity to unsettle Jesus, however, Jesus saw their question as a moment of grace that he could use to elucidate the essence of the commandments of God. He summarised the commandments of God as love of God and love of neighbour. In the ten commandments of God as enunciated in Exodus 20:1-17, the first three commandments, related to our relationship with God, and the rest, pertained to our relationship with our fellow humans. The book of Deuteronomy reminded us that the Lord our God is one Lord, and that we should love Him with all our heart, soul and strength, (Deut 6:4-7).

Jesus brought it to our consciousness that, “you did not choose me, no I chose you and I commissioned you to bear fruits that will last,” (Jn 15:16). Hence, God was the one who took the first initiative to relate with us. We are invited to have a personal relationship with God. Loving God with our heart, mind, and strength, will automatically flow into our relationship with our fellow human beings. The apostle John had asked rhetorically, how can we say that we love God whom we cannot see when we cannot love our neighbour whom we can see? (1Jn 4:20).

Our love of God and neighbour is not merely something cognitive, but it is also practical. St Paul said that “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres (1Cor 13: 4-7). And for Jesus, practical love included feeding the hungry, welcoming a stranger and visiting the sick, and the imprisoned (Mt 25: 31-43).

Today, may our love of God, bring out the best in us as God’s creatures. Amen.