Living our faith in Jesus and our love for Him means imitating His care for others
Reflections on the readings for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (October 25, 2020): EX 22:20-26; PS 18:2-3,4,47,51; 1 THES 1:5-10; MT 22:34-40
MISSIO offers “Mission In Scripture” to nurture a missionary heart, providing reflections on the missionary themes in the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days
It will never be enough to call ourselves Catholics, if we do not love all God’s people...
The Scripture readings on this Sunday address the vital necessity of loving God and our neighbor as well as understanding the importance of demonstrating our belief in Jesus Christ in all that we do and all that we say. In St. Paul’s first letter to the Christians of Thessalonica, in Macedonia, we hear him honoring them for their ongoing efforts in living out and in sharing the merciful message of Christ. “From you the word of the Lord has sounded forth…in every place your faith in God has gone forth.… You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to await His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us” (1 Thessalonians 1:8-10).
St. Paul wanted these early followers of our Lord to know that they were starting well on their journey of faith because they had received the Good News with the joy of the Holy Spirit. And they were modeling their behavior on that of Paul himself and his fellow preachers, and, mostly importantly, on Christ Himself. They were actively showing the love for God and for other people that Jesus taught. This is what Christians of every generation are called to do. Each one of us proves that we are real disciples of the Son of God by our love. And that means loving our Redeemer who opens the gates of heaven for us, as well as our brothers and sisters, especially those in need. It will never be enough to call ourselves Catholics, if we do not love all God’s people: those we like and those we do not, those who are different, who are difficult, who make us uncomfortable. If we believe that God is worthy of our love, so are His children. And if we deserve to be loved, so do all those with whom we share God’s good earth. But we do not have to try to achieve this on our own. Our Lord will be with us every step along the way.
Suggested missionary action: We need to take some time to think about today’s readings. How do we live out the two great commandments in our thought, prayer, word, and, especially, action? How do we demonstrate our Christian faith? How do we cooperate with God’s grace?