Reflection for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time: The Greatest Commandment (Year A)
By Msgr. Bernard Bourgeois Exodus 22:20-26; Psalm 18:11 Thessalonians 1:5c-10; Matthew 22:34-40 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” (Mt 22:36) Americans like things summed up easily and in few words. We like short news bytes and easy to understand directions that pop up on our phones. Simple, quick, and easy are words we live by. At first glance, today’s Gospel from Matthew offers such a summary for today’s Catholic. A lawyer asks Jesus, “Which commandment in the law is the greatest?” Here is Jesus’ answer: " 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." Simple, quick, and easy—love God and love neighbor. It sums up everything Jesus teaches and is thus the center of the law of Christ. As anyone w