Sunday Reflections

 

First Reading:	Exodus 22:20-26
Second Reading:	1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10
Gospel:	Matthew 22.34-40 – The Greatest Commandment

 

Love until it Hurts

One of the most commonly used words in today’s culture is “love.” It has become so familiar in our regular language that people use the same word to describe their sentiments towards pizza, their pets and their children. Clearly a different level of love exists between those three things but this common usage of the word can slowly lead us to lose the meaning of love in its truest sense.

 

In the Gospel today, Jesus boils down all of the commandments into loving God with all our being and loving our neighbour as ourselves. In order to fully love God and our neighbour, we need toremind ourselves what the true definition and expression of love is. Love is ultimately a sacrifice. It is willing the good of the other, which involves us foregoing our own interests for theirs.

St. Teresa of Calcutta beautifully says that for “love to be real, it must cost—it must hurt—it must empty us of self.” As stewards, we should always keep this understanding of love in our minds because stewardship is essentially a life of love. With this true understanding, we will not be surprised when we face difficulties or suffering in our ministry. Likewise, it helps us ask ourselves if we’re being too comfortable in our generosity and challenges us to give even more of ourselves. Let us seek to constantly serve God and our neighbour in our parish community out of a deep love for them.

Summary

In the Gospel today, Jesus boils down all of the commandments into loving God with all our being and loving our neighbour as ourselves. St. Teresa of Calcutta beautifully says that for “love to be real, it must cost—it must hurt—it must empty us of self.” Let us seek to constantly love God and our neighbour in our parish community by sacrificing our own desires for their good.