October 27, 1996 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Matthew 22:34-40

From: MARY G. DURKIN * EMC.Ver #2.10P

BACKGROUND

Matthew presents this passage as an attack on the Pharisees who have a lawyer, a professionally trained theologian steeped in the Law of Moses, test Jesus. However, Jesus does not fall into the trap they set. He quotes from the ancient Hebrew prayer (Deut 6:4-5) to indicate that one must love God with one's whole being. But Matthew then balances this theocentric outlook of the first commandment with a second one that is like the first in that love of God must also include love of neighbor (Lev 19:18). Although both love of God and love of neighbor are emphasized in other writings of Judaism of that time, this is most striking presentation of the fundamental link between the two. With this response, Jesus silences those who questioned his authority then and Matthew challenges all who are listeners to his gospel.

STORY

Once upon a time, back in the 1950's, three young women were members of their college sodality. As sodality members were want to do in those days, they often .attended weekday Mass, said the rosary daily, made the Sorrowful Mother Novena, fasted and abstained during Lent, worried about whether certain things were venial or possibly mortal sins, and looked to their priests, bishops, and the Pope as the final word on what was right and wrong. But then came the 1960's and the Council and The Feminine Mystique. The church and the world began to change. When these women met recently at their 40th reunion they exchanged stories of their lives since those college days. One woman continued the religious practices and ideas of her college days. She was very active in church organizations that longed for a return to the pre-Vatican II church where people could be sure that if they followed the rules, God would reward them. She was quite distressed that so many of her peers had such little respect for church authority. The second woman embrace the ideas of the Council and, enjoying the new freedom afforded women in society, had become quite active in every new social action cause that came along. She claimed that she had little time for all those old fashioned religious practices. There was no need for those things when one's life was a prayer. However, she expressed bitterness with the lack of success that accompanied many of her attempts to win others over to her views on social justice. If everyone else realized the only way to love God was to support these causes, the world would be a much better place. The third woman confided that she had experienced a great deal of confusion trying to decide how to live with the new freedom in the church and in the world. She finally realized that she needed a prayer life to keep her aware of the spiritual dimension of all that happened in the world around her. Conscious of God's presence in all of life and of God's love for all people, she feels challenged to deepen her relationship with God even as she strives to be more conscious of the needs of others. She struggles to integrate the double commandment in her life. Just like all of us, these three women are concerned about how to love God. What is Jesus saying to them and to us today?

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