Homily On 30th Sunday In Ordinary Time (a)

THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A) 26 October 2008 Readings: Ex 22:20-26; Ps 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51; 1 Thess 1:5c-10; Matt 22:34-40 The Greatest Commandment “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 commanment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” One of my favorite moments in the history of literature, particularly in the19th century when Romanticism dominated the first half of the century with diverse literary developments such as realism, symbolism and the so-called fin de siècle “decadent” movement, is the episode in Victor Hugo’s novel ‘Les Miserables.’ 1 It is a story of Jean Valjean, the main character, who goes to prison for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s child. As an ex-convict and embittered by the injustice of his sentence, he is offered hospitality by an abbé in his chancery. However, he steals the abbe’s silver candlesticks and flees. The following morning he is brought back to confront his host – the abbé and right there he already anticipates the torments reserved for escaped galley slaves like him. Contrary to his expectation when the abbé says to the gendarmes, “I gave him the candlesticks, you can let him go.” That was a redeeming moment for him and he was never the same again. As I was staring down the barrel of another episode in Matthew’s gospel, I came to recognize the two-sided coin of love or charity which forms the essentials of our Christian lives. These are the two great commandments which are radically rooted in the spirit of love. Jesus, in his teachings, shows us that the God of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Scriptures is not a god of ‘exclusion.’ He does not discriminate against people of one race, color or creed. When one begins to exclude certain neighbors because he is a disgrace in society or wicked, for instance, he breaks God’s net of inclusive love and rips to shreds the so-called blanket of faith. The Jewish people have this main prayer which they recite twice a day – when they wake up in the morning and when they go to bed. It is known as Shema (translated “hear” in Hebrew) and Jesus repeats it in the New Testament and he tells us that by keeping these two commandments we keep all the others. Shema says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Dt 6:4-5, NIV). 1

cf. Wikipedia, free encyclopedia online. It is a novel by French author Victor Hugo in the 19th century and translated variously from French as The Miserable Ones, The Wretched, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, The Victims (1862). It examines the nature of good, evil, and the law, in a sweeping story that expounds upon the history of France in numerous aspects. It contains a multitude of plots, but the thread that binds them together is the story of the ex-convict Jean Valjean who becomes a force for good in the world, but cannot escape his past.

We may recall when God gave Moses2 the Ten Commandments3 which represent God’s own summary of our duties toward him. There are actually two versions of the Decalogue with similarity in meaning but somewhat different in wording. The version in Deuteronomy, for instance, adds the detail of Moses saying that God “delivered unto me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God.” Jewish people, however, believe that the first five books of the OT contains not ten, but 613 laws of Moses. They believe that 248 were considered to be positive laws and 365 were negative.4 Because for them “to keep so many laws is an angel’s work.” There was much debate at that time and the context of this episode brings to mind a series of questions. If we remember the disciples of the Pharisees and Herodians asked Jesus about whether or not taxes should be paid to the Romans. Then came the Sadducees with a contrived question about marriage the resurrection. Then finally, there was this group of Pharisees asking about the commandments. Jesus was not a scholar but he knows how to get to the substance of the law. True love of God is incarnated or reflected in the act of loving one’s neighbor. Like the two sided coin of love, one cannot claim he loves God if he does not love his neighbor. These two great commandments are interwoven in application. Perhaps some of us may not feel comfortable with these verses from the gospel since we are challenged to act differently; that we have to start treating others with love and respect even those we cannot stand. This is the radical meaning of Jesus’ greatest commandment – love. This is the real essence of being in this world that we have to live out our love for others in practical, concrete and extreme ways. I remember the closing scene of the musical Les Miserables as Jean Valjean nears death. It is very moving for me because as a forgiven and restored person, Valjean offers his home, life, and everything including hislove for Cosette, the orphaned daughter of Fantine. And Valjean sings these words to Cosette: “Take my love/ for love is everlasting. And remember the truth that once was spoken, to love another is to see the face of God.” This portion of truth reminds us that horizontal movement in our relationship with others reflects the measure of experiencing God in his love. God bless you.

2

The great leader of the Hebrews who led them to flee from slavery in Egypt. These are a set of laws which were given to Moses by God. While the Law of Moses is made up of over 600 rules, the Ten Commandments were a succinct list of rules from which the others were developed. They are recorded in two chapters of the Hebrew Scriptures particularly the Pentateuch: Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:5:6-21. These are two versions, generally similar but somewhat different in wording. 4 cf. People’s New Testament Commentary 3