Reflections
October 23, 2011, 8:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Matthew 22:34-40
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they
gathered together, and one of them a scholar of the law tested Him by
asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said
to him, “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 commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor
as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two
commandments.”
Reflection:
Reflection:
You shall love the Lord, your God… You shall love your neighbor. Love
of God and love of neighbor are concretely translated in the First
Reading of this Sunday thus: “You shall not molest or oppress an alien,
for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt” (Ex 22:20).
In our case, aliens or foreigners are not people from other countries
who are staying in our land. Foreigners are the strangers we meet every
day – the jeepney drivers, the vendors, the beggars. They are the
nameless and faceless people in our society. They are also the unknown
neighbors in our community.
Foreigners are the family you are not close to, the brother or sister
you are not in good terms with, the son you are angry with, the
daughter you hold a grudge with, the husband or wife you mistrust. He is
even the God you forget to call on. We encounter different foreigners
every day. And the words of God to Moses are clear: Do not molest or
oppress a foreigner. This is a concrete test of the commandments of God.
Be kind to everyone you meet today.
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