Daily Readings - Sun Oct 29 2023
Exodus
21You shall not harass the newcomer, nor shall you afflict him. For you yourselves were once newcomers in the land of Egypt22You shall not harm a widow or an orphan23If you hurt them, they will cry out to me, and I will hear their cry24And my fury will be enraged, and I will strike you down with the sword. And your wives will become widows, and your sons will become orphans25If you lend money to the poor of my people who live among you, you shall not coerce them like a collector, nor oppress them with usury26If you take a garment from your neighbor as a pledge, you shall return it to him again before the setting of the sun27For it is all that he has to cover himself, to clothe his body; nor does he have anything else in which to sleep. If he cries out to me, I will hear him, because I am compassionate
1 Thessalonians
5For our Gospel has not been among you in word alone, but also in virtue, and in the Holy Spirit, and with a great fullness, in the same manner as you know we have acted among you for your sake6And so, you became imitators of us and of the Lord, accepting the Word in the midst of great tribulation, but with the joy of the Holy Spirit7So have you become a pattern for all who believe in Macedonia and in Achaia8For from you, the Word of the Lord was spread, not only in Macedonia and in Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith, which is toward God, has advanced so much so that we do not need to speak to you about anything9For others are reporting among us of the kind of acceptance we had among you, and how you were converted from idols to God, to the service of the living and true God10and to the expectation of his Son from heaven (whom he raised up from the dead), Jesus, who has rescued us from the approaching wrath
Matthew
34But the Pharisees, hearing that he had caused the Sadducees to be silent, came together as one35And one of them, a doctor of the law, questioned him, to test him36"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?37Jesus said to him: " ‘You shall love the Lord your God from all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.38This is the greatest and first commandment39But the second is similar to it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.40On these two commandments the entire law depends, and also the prophets.
Sermon
The readings today remind us of the heart of God’s law and the transformative power of living according to His will. In the first reading from Exodus, we hear God’s clear command to care for the vulnerable—newcomers, widows, orphans, and the poor. This is not merely a suggestion but a divine mandate rooted in Israel’s own experience of oppression in Egypt. God, who is compassionate and hears the cries of the afflicted, demands that His people reflect His mercy in their treatment of others. The second reading from 1 Thessalonians shows us what this looks like in practice. The early Christians in Thessalonica, though persecuted, embraced the Gospel with joy and became a model of faith for others. Their conversion from idolatry to the living God was not just a change in belief but a radical transformation in how they lived, inspiring others to follow their example.
In the Gospel, Jesus distills the entire law into two commandments: love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. These are not separate commands but intertwined expressions of the same love. To love God is to love those He loves, and to love our neighbors is to reflect God’s love in the world. The Pharisees, trying to test Jesus, instead receive a profound truth that cuts through legalism and gets to the heart of what it means to follow God. Today’s readings, therefore, call us to examine how we are living out these two great commandments in our daily lives.
As we reflect on these readings, let us ask ourselves: Are we treating others with the same compassion God has shown us? Are we living in a way that inspires others to know and love God? The Good News is that God’s love is not just a command but a gift that transforms us. When we love as God loves, we become instruments of His mercy and grace in a world that desperately needs it. Let us strive to be like the Thessalonians, whose faith and joy in the midst of trials became a light to others. By living out the two great commandments, we not only fulfill the law but also become the face of God’s love to a world in need.