Homily For The 30th Sunday Of The Ordinary Time, Year A, October 29, 2023
“What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.”–St. Augustine
Sunday Readings
My Dearest Friends in Christ,
I welcome you in the peace and love of Christ. Today is the 30th Sunday and the 30th reminder to embrace love and righteousness. A 30th opportunity to reconcile with God and the 30th time God has been so patient with our wicked world.
Oppression Stirs The Anger of God But Love Attracts His Blessings
If there is any sin that cries to heaven for vengeance and stirs up the anger of God, it is the sin of OPPRESSION of the vulnerable ones amongst us. In Mathew 20:26-27, Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.” We are called to love and serve the poor.
Unfortunately, we live in a society where the mighty and the privileged lord it over the poor and the weak. Where many take advantage of others to achieve their evil objectives. We live in a society with many structures that are antithetical to Christian values. These oppressive structures or policies are the reasons a culture of hate instead of love has become a way of life.
We are a society, where people of certain races are unable to have the opportunities and equality which are theirs under the law. A society, where people who believe in a certain set of religious teachings are considered to be intolerant of others. Those who practice their own religious beliefs can be ridiculed for their opinions and practices. We are a society that controls freedom of speech by telling others, ‘that is not politically correct’; a society where migrants are allowed to enter the borders but often suffer discrimination. Immigrants are often relegated to work for low wages and are unable to afford proper housing and food. That”s the society in which we live.
We Must Avoid All Forms of Oppression and Dismantle Oppresive Structures in Our World
The first reading comes as a divine warning. For people who pay deaf ears to the word of God, this reading lays bare the mind of God and emphatically discloses how God detests any form of oppression. God says: “My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will be widows, and your children orphans”. These words are scary and sound harsh but they reveal the depth of God’s detestation of oppression. When the Children of Israel were being oppressed in the land of Egypt under the tyranny of Pharaoh, God worked wonders by challenging the oppressive forces through plagues, destroying them in the Red Sea, and delivering the Israelites. If there are people whose cries reach heaven faster, it is the cry of the just widows, orphans, and those unjustly oppressed. When I look around and see the lives of innocent people wasted in the world, when I hear about many widowed and orphaned by war especially the Israeli-Palestinian and around the world, the many impoverished by unjust and oppressive structures, my heart breaks. Our leaders oppress us. We also oppress each other and even the vulnerable ones amongst us, whose survival depends largely on our generosity, love, and concern; and whose interests we are bound in conscience to protect. Has love completely eluded our world?
Did you hear God condemning extortion? Do you know it is uncharitable to ask someone to repay the money you lent him or her with interest? Do you not count yourself fortunate to be in a position to help, so why add interest to a personal loan? What of those who confiscate the property of others because they are unable to pay back what they owe? Do you also think your action is justified? The problem is the absence of love in the hearts of many. If I have to describe love in one sentence, I would say, it is the beauty of our human nature. Take love away, man becomes ruthless.
To Spread Love and to Live By Love Is Our Ultimate Goal As Christians
In the gospel, a question came to Jesus as a test, from a scholar of the law; “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” This question was also planned to trap Jesus. In asking Jesus to choose one great commandment, he hoped to make Jesus show neglect for another part of the law. Like those who came to tempt Jesus before him, this scholar was also disappointed to hear that LOVE, is the greatest of all commandments. Instead of promoting one commandment over another, Jesus defined the law in its core principle; love the Lord with everything you have and love your neighbor as yourself
God created man in His image and this image of God in man reflects the Being of God. God is LOVE and therefore man is created in Love, to love and be loved. Not to love is a negation of who a man or woman was created to be. It is a denial of his or her very essence. People hate today because the society around them and the experiences of life have led them to react with hatred. Are you in any way filled with hate and animosity towards anyone, any group, or your country? I understand how the harsh realities of our existential experience might have caused this in you, but you have to embrace the liberating power of love. It is the only way we can ensure peaceful and harmonious co-existence in our world.
Jesus says we must love God above everything and it is the first and the greatest of all the commandments. To love God with all our heart and soul is to constantly remind ourselves, that whatever we do, must spring from this love of God who has given us everything, especially life. It is a call to worship God amidst the gods of this world. People may not deserve your love, but you still have to love them because God loves you. By so doing, you are reciprocating God’s love for you. When it comes to loving our neighbor, it is also a call the respect the image of God in every man and woman. Both the love of God and our neighbor are complementary and inseparable. You cannot love God without loving your neighbor and vice versa.
Those who maltreat the vulnerable people in society, those who exploit or oppress the poor and deny them their rights, and those who kill, have failed to recognize their fellow humans as images of God. To love our neighbor is to respect the dignity of the human person, a dignity that is never lost in the face of poverty and human misery. To love ourselves is to care about our spiritual and bodily welfare in union with the love of God in our hearts and the love of our neighbor. When we neglect loving God and our neighbor to love ourselves, that is the definition of selfishness. It is selfishness that opens the door to oppression, extortion, greed, and evil.
As St. Paul puts it in the second reading our goal should be to be imitators of our Lord Jesus Christ “so that you became a model for all the believers”.
May God create a new spirit and a new heart in us, so that through His grace in this Eucharistic mystery, we may be true lovers of God, our neighbor, and ourselves. May our Mother Mary intercede for us. Amen
Pray Your Rosary Daily
I keep you and your family always in my prayers. ©Clem C. Aladi (2024)
