30TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A: ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE!

Kel. 22:21-27; Mzm. 18:2-3a,3bc-4,47,51ab; 1Tes. 1:5c-10; Mat. 22:34-40.

When people hear Our Lord’s teaching (Mt 22:34-40) , that loving God and neighbour is the greatest commandment, they might think Jesus was a proto-hippie. After all, He was countercultural, into peace, talked universal love. Add long hair and a beard, and all that’s missing is the guitar…

However, there’s a lot more going on in our Gospel than the utopianism of the ’67 Summer of Love, which was big on intimacy and good feelings but rather vague on the details of the good life. After singing the chorus of “All You Need Is Love” many times some probably thought there was nothing more to be said. Love is, after all, impassioned, impulsive, even chaotic…

Today, Jesus takes two commandments, from two different Old Testament books (Deut 6:5; Lev 19:18), knits them together as one, and promotes them to top commandment. Yet He maintains that there is a certain order between them: loving God comes first, then loving self, and loving neighbour comes third or a close equal-second. St Thomas Aquinas takes this further, asking why we should love in that order; whether we should prefer those closest to us or those who are best; whether we should love children or parents more; whether the order of charity endures in the afterlife; and so on.[1] Not all loves are equal, then. Some have priority, at least in some circumstances. Some are less worthy, over-sentimental, controlling. All of which means there is some logic to love after all, some order amidst the emotional chaos.

It might sound rather mathematical, even autistic, to attempt to bring order into the madness of love. But at the heart of Jesus’ teaching was a second affective truth. We love God first and foremost because He is the why of everything else, the why of the lover, of the beloved, of the love. When His love inspires ours, it leads us to love ourselves in all humility, and our fellows also. We care even for the stranger. But we rightly consider some our intimates, our ‘nearest and dearest’. Someone who says she loves everyone equally does indeed love everyone equally – because she loves no-one. Love includes preference. And if people in pandemics think loving health comes before everything else, or that loving the economy comes next, Jesus has news for them: there are some things that matter as much or more!

Thirdly, attending closely to today’s text we notice that loving God doesn’t just come first: it demands “all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind”. So it’s not just about feelings, like hippie love. Important as feelings are, we must be sure to love the right persons or things, in the right ways. Godly love draws the whole person, intellect and will, emotions and beliefs. To others we give our most, or our much, but to God we give our all. Then, paradoxically, having given God all our love, our heart is enlarged to love many others, and better, and more…

When people hear today’s Gospel, most miss what Jesus says after He gives the double commandment, but here lies a fourth takeaway: “On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also,” He says. Once love is our ‘fundamental option’, our ‘strategic plan’, our ‘guiding paradigm’, step 2 is nutting out with our ‘heart and soul and mind’ the consequences for daily life. The love commandment doesn’t render Scripture and Tradition, or law and prophecy, null and void. Rather, love inspires, informs, interprets and applies them. What the hippie love of the Beatles missed is that big things like faith, hope and love need little, everyday expressions. So we need guidance for doing love amidst the complexities of life, about the logic of loving big and well, in the little things.


So there’s an order of loving, and God comes first, then ourselves and our fellows, and this affects the whole person, the whole of life, and must be expressed in deeds. Our other readings today give us some pointers on what sorts of deeds. No violence, exploitation, prejudice, God says to Moses today (Ex 22:20-26). You are Fratelli Tutti, all sisters and brothers, all in this together. So care for the widow and orphan, the poor and vulnerable, the voiceless and disappeared. Our love – our voices – should make them seen and heard, make them the neighbours we love as ourselves.

Throughout the Bible God praises those who hear the cries of the poor and the demands of righteousness, and deplores those who do not.[2] When we love with heart and soul and mind, the right things in the right order, we can do so much that is good for the voiceless and for others. Once we have those things straight, we can indeed sing with our lives All You Need Is Love.

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MINGGU BIASA XXIX/A WE ARE CALLED TO BE HIS IMAGE

"Give to God the things that are God's." [Mt. 22:21] What a powerful statement! Good morning everyone! I pray to the Lord Jesus that by the grace of God the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit, the spiritual meaning of today's readings shall enrich all of you as I have been enriched through them.

Beginning with the First Reading from the Book of Isaiah, [Is. 45:1, 4-6] the Lord God addressed His anointed one. As spiritual children of God, having been anointed during the Sacrament of Baptism, we can all welcome this message as if it was intended for each and everyone of us.

During this reading, we heard the Lord God speaking of His almightiness. By His infinite power, nations had been subdued and kings stripped of their robes. Doors had been opened for His anointed one and the gates shall not be closed. This parallels what the Lord God has done for each and every one of us through the anointment of our Baptism. He gave us all a new creation that He guards jealously, [Jas. 4:5] protecting it against the claws of Satan. Through our Baptism, He has opened the doors to Heaven for us to enter, promising never to close them. The promise of the New Covenant is forever. God, unchanging in His nature and promises, shall never take away from us the promise of salvation. If we fall short of persevering in our living faith that leads towards salvation, it will be because of our own free will.

The Lord God proceeded to say that for the sake of those He loved, His servant Jacob and Israel His chosen, He calls us by our names. Though we do not know Him, He surnames us. How true it is that we know very little about God the Father. For His formless nature mystifies our human perception. What we do know of Him, it is through Jesus Christ who "is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." [Col. 1:15] Even though we do not know God as we should know Him, He still calls us by our individual surnames, each and everyone of us being known to Him. It is just awesome to think that God remembers each and everyone of our names, knowing us personally.

Then, the Lord God proceeded to say that He was the Lord. There is no other god beside Him. These words echo the words of the First Commandment. "I am the Lord your God... you shall have no other gods before me." [Ex. 20:2-3] We belong to Him and He wants us!

Next, the Lord God said that although we did not know Him, He arms us. Spiritually speaking, He gives us the spiritual weapons that we need to defeat the enemy. To ensure that we would walk in the light, He gave us our salvation through Christ. He gave us the Holy Catholic Church to continue the apostolic work of Jesus. He gave us the Sacrament of Baptism so we may be born again through faith in Christ, water and the Spirit. He gave us the Sacrament of Reconciliation so we may maintain our righteousness in His sight. He gave us the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist so we may enjoy the Living Bread that leads us to the Kingdom of God. And the list continues... How numerous are His Divine blessings for each and every one of us!

Having reminded us of our blessings, the Lord repeats once more that He is the Lord and that there is no other. No one can do what He has done. No one can even come near doing all what He has done for each and everyone of us. Praise be His Most Holy Name!

Moving on to the Second Reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians, [1 Thess. 1:1-5] we learn more about the greatness of God. The reading began by identifying who the writer was. Besides Paul, there was Silas. Silas [Acts 15:22] was one of the leaders of the Jerusalem community who was sent to Antioch after the Council of Jerusalem. [1 Pet. 5:12] Timothy was the son of a Jewish mother and Greek Father. He joined Paul and Silvanus at Lystra [Acts 16:1-3] and helped Paul in his ministry for a great period of time.

The Letter to the Thessalonians was addressed to the Church as a whole. By uniting God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ in the introduction of the Letter, Paul was confirming the Divinity of Christ. Applying his regular greeting and blessing, [2 Thess. 1:2] Paul prayed that grace and peace would be with the Thessalonians.

Saint Paul then proceeded to give thanks to God in prayer for all the blessings that the Thessalonians had received. He mentioned their work of faith, their labour of love and their steadfastness of hope in Jesus Christ. The labour of love is a reflection of active charity. As such, the prayer of thanksgiving to God embraces the virtues of faith, hope and charity that had been bestowed upon the Thessalonians.

Continuing with his Letter, Paul emphasized that it was not just his words that transformed the Thessalonians, but the "power" of the Holy Spirit. Giving credit where it rightfully belongs, Paul made it clear that it was the Holy Spirit who was responsible for all the spiritual manifestations of righteousness.

Paul is a holy example to all of us. He shined as a saintly model who always acknowledged that there is only One God and we should always remember that.

Continuing to the Gospel of Matthew, [Mt. 22:15-21] our attention is drawn towards the few who did not shine very much, if at all, in the eyes of God. Our attention is drawn to the Pharisees who were siding with the Herodians to trap Jesus with a question. Their intent was to have Jesus side with either the Pharisees or the Zealots. Consequently, this would cause some friction with one of the parties.

You see, the Herodians supported Herod's succession of rulers. They were extremely loyal to Rome. The Zealots rejected the fact that they were subjected to a foreign power. They wanted the Romans out of their lives. The Pharisees believed as the Zealots but they did not believe in using force to obtain independence. Any answer to the question that was given to Jesus was bound to cause friction with either one of the parties. But Jesus perceived their malice.

Jesus was asked, "Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?" Jesus asked for a coin and said, "Whose head is this, and whose title?" The New Testament translation of the Latin Vulgate says, "Whose image and inscription is this?" [Mt. 22:20] They answered, "The emperor's." So Jesus told them to give therefore to the emperor the things that belong to the emperor and to God the things that are God's.

To fully understand this tricky question, it is necessary to know and understand what related to the minting of Roman coins. The right to mint a coin proved sovereignty. The Roman Government minted their own coins and jealously guarded this sovereignty, making it an act of rebellion to mint any coins other than under the Roman authority. As such, since the coins were minted by the Roman Empire, they belonged to its Government.

To condemn the paying of taxes would have meant to disagree with the occupancy of the Romans. To agree to pay taxes would have meant to support their occupancy of the land.

Now, one may wonder how this Bible passage relates to the other two readings. It does so through the word "image." Give to God the things that are God's.

Earlier, I spoke of all the blessings that God has given each and every one of us. In Roman 8:29, we learn that "those whom God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn within a large family." In 1 Cor. 15:49, we learn that "just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of Heaven." 2 Cor. 3:18 tells us, "And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another." And Col. 3:10 tells us, "clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator."

As the Book of Genesis teaches us, man was created in the image of God. Having lost that original image through the disobedience of Adam, God placed in motion a progressive Divine Plan to once more transform us into His glorious image. That is why God gave us so many gifts and blessings. That is why Christ died for us. That is why we are being transformed into the image of Christ through faith, hope and charity.

Belonging to God, we are called to become in His image. We are called to actively maintain our gifts by living our faith in Christ. We are called to give to God what belongs to God so it will not be said, "In their case the god of this world has blinded them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." [2 Cor. 4:4]

Today's message my brothers and sisters is, let us appreciate what God has given us. By the power of the Holy Spirit, let us preserve our gifts and blessings with all our souls, our minds, our spirits, our hearts and our strength. In the Most Holy Name of Jesus, let us keep these gifts stainless so that one day, when we will appear before the Lord God, we will proudly give Him back what He gave us. Then, we will rightfully inherit the assurance of our salvation.

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MINGGU BIASA XXVIII/A MENGENAKAN PAKAIAN PENGANTIN

Yes. 25:6-10a; Mzm. 23:1-3a,3b-4,5,6; Flp. 4:12-14,19-20; Mat. 22:1-14 (Mat. 22:1-10)

Pendahuluan: Bacaan Kitab Suci hari ini mengajak kita untuk menikmati sukacita abadi Perjamuan Surgawi dan peringatan penuh kasih untuk selalu siap menyambut perjamuan Surgawi ini dengan selalu mengenakan pakaian pesta, yaitu tetap dalam keadaan rahmat dengan menjauhi dosa dan berbuat baik.

Pelajaran Kitab Suci: Dalam bacaan pertama, Yesaya menggambarkan perjamuan Mesianik di gunung Tuhan di Kota Suci Yerusalem, yang sedang dipersiapkan Yahweh bagi umat-Nya. “Kabar Baiknya” adalah bahwa ini adalah pesta besar yang terdiri dari “makanan kaya dan anggur pilihan.” Namun, bagi bangsa Israel, “kabar buruknya” adalah bahwa Yahweh mengundang semua orang, termasuk orang bukan Yahudi, ke perjamuan tersebut. Mazmur Tanggapan hari ini (Mzm 23), menampilkan Tuhan sebagai Gembala yang Baik yang memelihara, memimpin, dan melindungi kawanan domba-Nya. Dalam bacaan kedua, Santo Paulus menasihati jemaat Filipi untuk menaruh kepercayaan mereka pada kekuatan dan kebaikan Tuhan yang menyediakan, Yang, di dalam Yesus, telah memberikan Gereja-Nya segala sesuatu yang dibutuhkan para pengikut-Nya untuk berpartisipasi dalam Perjamuan Surgawi. Dalam Injil hari ini, dengan menceritakan sebuah perumpamaan alegoris tentang penghakiman di Bait Suci Yerusalem dua hari sebelum penangkapan-Nya, Yesus menuduh para pemimpin agama dan sipil Yahudi menolak undangan Allah untuk menghadiri Perjamuan Surgawi yang diberikan kepada mereka melalui Putra Allah Sendiri. Mereka telah menolak undangan tersebut dengan tidak mendengarkan Kabar Baik yang diberitakan oleh Yesus dan tidak melakukan reformasi dalam kehidupan mereka. Undangan ini berulang kali disampaikan kepada Israel melalui para nabi, termasuk Yohanes Pembaptis. Namun kepemimpinan yang hidup sezaman dengan Yesus menolak kenyataan bahwa Yesus adalah penggenapan seluruh nubuatan, menolak untuk menerima undangan Allah untuk hidup benar yang diberikan melalui Yohanes Pembaptis dan melalui Yesus, dan sekarang berencana untuk membunuh Anak Allah sendiri, Yesus. Oleh karena itu, Allah mengundang orang-orang berdosa dan orang-orang bukan Yahudi ke perjamuan-Nya, dan itulah sebabnya Yesus menemani orang-orang berdosa.

Pesan-pesan kehidupan: 

1) Kita perlu senantiasa mengenakan pakaian pengantin yang suci dan benar, dalam keadaan penuh rahmat, berbuat baik kepada semua orang, serta menghargai dan menerima rahmat Tuhan dalam Gereja: a) Kita menerima “pakaian pengantin” ” tentang rahmat pengudusan dalam Pembaptisan; Sakramen-Sakramen lainnya memberikan rahmat tambahan yang kita perlukan untuk mempertahankannya. b) Partisipasi kita dalam perayaan Ekaristi dan dalam doa-doa pribadi dan keluarga membantu kita mengisi ulang baterai rohani kita dan memampukan kita menjalani kehidupan yang dipenuhi Roh, penuh doa, dan berbuat baik bagi semua orang. c) Yesus memelihara kita di dalam Gereja melalui pewartaan Sabda Allah dan melalui Tubuh dan Darah-Nya yang dipersembahkan kepada kita sebagai Makanan dan Minuman rohani dalam Perjamuan Kudus.

 2) Kita perlu berpartisipasi dalam Perjamuan Ekaristi dengan persiapan yang matang, melalui pertobatan atas dosa-dosa kita dan dengan berpartisipasi aktif dalam doa dan nyanyian selama Misa Kudus. Ikut serta dalam Misa Kudus adalah persiapan terbaik dan Sumber kekuatan terbesar bagi partisipasi kita di masa depan. perjamuan Surgawi. L/23

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MINGGU BIASA XVII/A MENDENGARKAN FIRMAN TUHAN

Yes. 5:1-7; Mzm. 80:9,12,13-14,15-16,19-20; Flp. 4:6-9; Mat. 21:33-43.

Injil hari ini merupakan kelanjutan langsung dari Injil hari Minggu lalu dimana Yesus ditanyai oleh para pemimpin agama Yahudi mengenai sumber otoritas pengajaran-Nya. Setelah menolak menjawab pertanyaan mereka, Yesus menceritakan perumpamaan dua anak laki-laki dan kemudian mengkritik para imam dan tua-tua karena kurangnya kepercayaan mereka kepada Yohanes Pembaptis.

Dalam Injil hari ini, Yesus sekali lagi berbicara kepada para imam dan tua-tua dengan sebuah perumpamaan. Dalam perumpamaan ini, pemilik tanah menyewakan kebun anggurnya kepada para penggarap dan mengutus hamba-hambanya untuk menagih bagian hasil panen yang harus dibayar oleh penggarap tersebut. Beberapa kali para pelayan diutus untuk menagih pembayaran, dan setiap kali mereka dipukuli dan dibunuh oleh para penggarap. Akhirnya, pemilik tanah mengirim putranya untuk mengambil uang sewanya. Para penggarap, percaya bahwa mereka akan mewarisi kebun anggur jika pemilik tanah meninggal tanpa ahli waris, membuat plot bersama dan membunuh putra pemilik tanah.

Setelah menceritakan perumpamaan tersebut, Yesus bertanya kepada imam-imam kepala dan tua-tua tentang apa yang akan dilakukan pemilik tanah terhadap penggarap yang jahat. Mereka semua sepakat bahwa pemilik tanah akan membunuh penggarap yang jahat dan memberikan tanah tersebut kepada penggarap baru yang akan membayar sewa.

Dalam menceritakan perumpamaan ini, Yesus dengan jelas mengacu pada Yesaya 5:1-7, yang merupakan bacaan pertama hari ini dan pasti sudah diketahui dengan baik oleh para imam dan tua-tua. Oleh karena itu, Yesus tidak perlu menjelaskan simbolisme perumpamaan tersebut; orang-orang Farisi pasti paham bahwa kebun anggur melambangkan Israel, pemilik tanah melambangkan Tuhan, para hamba melambangkan para nabi, dan penggarap yang tidak baik melambangkan para pemimpin agama. Namun Yesus tetap menjelaskan arti perumpamaan itu kepada para pendengarnya: Kerajaan Allah akan diambil dari orang-orang yang tidak percaya dan diberikan kepada orang-orang yang setia. Imam-imam kepala dan tua-tua mengutuk diri mereka sendiri dengan jawaban mereka terhadap pertanyaan Yesus.

Injil hari ini ada persamaannya dengan Markus 12:1-12. Namun ada beberapa perbedaan penting. Dalam versi Matius, para pemimpin agama mengutuk diri mereka sendiri; dalam Injil Markus, Yesus menjawab pertanyaannya sendiri. Matius menyebut para pemimpin agama itu sebagai orang Farisi dan imam kepala. Jelas sekali Injil ini menunjukkan ketegangan yang memuncak antara Yesus dan para pemimpin agama Yahudi yang menganggap pesannya berbahaya. Injil Matius ditulis sekitar 70 tahun setelah kematian Yesus dan mencerminkan konflik dan ketegangan yang terdapat dalam komunitas Kristen yang menjadi tujuan penulisan Injil Matius. Banyak ahli Alkitab percaya bahwa ketegangan antara komunitas Matius dan tetangga Yahudi mereka juga terdengar dalam bacaan hari ini.

Injil ini mengingatkan kita akan pentingnya mendengarkan firman Tuhan. Allah berbicara kepada kita dalam banyak cara—melalui Kitab Suci, melalui tradisi Gereja kita, dalam ajaran Gereja kita, dan melalui para nabi zaman modern. Apakah kita memperhatikan dan menerima firman Tuhan kepada kita melalui para utusan ini?

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