Day of judgment Ex 22:20-26; Ps 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51; 1 Thes 1:5c-10; Mt 22:34-40 In less than a month, the holiday season will be upon us. There will be family gatherings with their festive meals and parties with friends, neighbors and coworkers. Although we eagerly anticipate the holiday season, we recognize that making one’s way through the season’s social events can sometimes be like walking through a minefield. Wisdom dictates keeping conversations congenial by avoiding two topics: politics and religion. During his ministry, Jesus could not avoid being challenged with questions that had political and religious ramifications. He was an object of fascination throughout Galilee and Judea. People wanted to meet him and hear him. He spoke with confidence and authority though he was without credentials. He was known as a carpenter’s son. His closest associates were commercial fishermen. While he did not study with any of the leading rabbis, Jesus attracted admiring crowds. The religious and political leaders of Galilee wanted find out just who Jesus was. The tetrarch, Herod Antipas, wanted to meet him. The scribes and the Pharisees watched his every move and were ready to criticize. Last week we heard the Pharisees and Herodians question Jesus about the propriety of paying taxes to the Roman occupiers of the Jewish homeland. Today, we witness Jesus’ encounter with a Torah scholar who posed a question about religious observance. The scholar wanted to know what Jesus considered the most important observance because they differed among themselves. Some thought it was circumcision, others the Sabbath observance, still others keeping kosher dietary laws. Each of these observances was an identity practice that marked Jews as Jews, setting them off from Gentiles. To answer the scholar, Jesus cites two texts from the Torah: Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. Jesus asserts that the most important religious duty is to reciprocate God’s love by loving one’s neighbor. The gift of self to others rather than self-interest should provide people’s lives with meaning and purpose, he says. Authentic love for God will find its expression in our love of our sisters and brothers who have special needs because they are God’s children. God blesses those who are blessing the lives children in need. Our love for God cannot be simply a matter of emotions, but must find concrete expression in our lives. We cannot love God in word only but in deeds of love that seek the good of all God’s children. The reading from Exodus provides some examples of how the people of ancient Israel were to show love to their neighbor. The admonition to avoid the mistreatment of vulnerable people — people without economic resources — is exceptionally forceful and particularly relevant today. Contemporary society is incredibly complicated, which makes effective care for the vulnerable challenging. This is the reason we have Catholic Charities, Catholic Relief Services and the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. It is also the reason the church speaks out against political and economic oppression and calls for meaningful and comprehensive immigration reform. It is the reason religious communities of men and of women devote much of their financial and personnel resources to ministries that work with and for the poor. It is the reason lay people, who could make a comfortable living for themselves, work at little more than maintenance salaries for church ministries that advocate for peace and justice. To be effective in today’s world and love our neighbor requires an institutional response. The reading from 1 Thessalonians mentions a topic that will come to the fore more often as ordinary time ends and Advent begins. Paul mentions “the coming wrath” (1 Thes 1:10), which is a terrifying feature of speculations about the end of this age. Paul assures his readers that their commitment to the God who raised Jesus from the dead will deliver them on that day of judgment. That judgment means the final and complete defeat of the powers of evil. Faithful Christians look to that day of judgment with eager anticipation and without fear.
About the Author Father Leslie Hoppe, OFM, is professor emeritus of Old Testament Studies at Catholic Theological Union, 5416 S. Cornell Ave., Chicago.