Lectionary: 148
Reading 1
ex 22:20-26
Thus says the LORD:
"You shall not molest or oppress an alien,
for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.
You shall not wrong any widow or orphan.
If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me,
I will surely hear their cry.
My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword;
then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans.
"If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people,
you shall not act like an extortioner toward him
by demanding interest from him.
If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge,
you shall return it to him before sunset;
for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body.
What else has he to sleep in?
If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate."
Responsorial Psalm
ps 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51
R/ (2) I love you, Lord, my strength.
I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
R/ I love you, Lord, my strength.
My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,
and I am safe from my enemies.
R/ I love you, Lord, my strength.
The LORD lives and blessed be my rock!
Extolled be God my savior.
You who gave great victories to your king
and showed kindness to your anointed.
R/ I love you, Lord, my strength.
Reading 2
1 thes 1:5c-10
Brothers and sisters:
You know what sort of people we were among you for your sake.
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord,
receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit,
so that you became a model for all the believers
in Macedonia and in Achaia.
For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth
not only in Macedonia and in Achaia,
but in every place your faith in God has gone forth,
so that we have no need to say anything.
For they themselves openly declare about us
what sort of reception we had among you,
and how 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 from the coming wrath.
Gospel
mt 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
SOURCE: One Bread One Body
THEME: LOVE LOVE
"I love You, O Lord." –Psalm 18:2
God is Love (1 Jn 4:8, 16). Because He is Love, we are in the image of Love, for we were created in His image (Gn 1:27). Because He is Love, our sins against Him are very serious – so serious that the nature of all human beings was wounded due to the first sin. Because He is Love, God gave us the opportunity to become new creations (see Jn 3:3, 5; Gal 6:15) by giving us His Son (Jn 3:16). Because God is Love, He became a human being to die on the cross and rise from the dead for our salvation. Love became flesh (see Jn 1:14). Love had nails driven into Him and thorns pressed into Him. Love became a bloody mess, brutally rejected and gasping for breath. Love was buried; Love rose; and Love is enthroned in heaven forever.
Because Love first loved us, we love Love (1 Jn 4:19). By His grace, we love Love with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength (Lk 10:27; Mt 22:37). We love Love by loving ourselves, our neighbors (Mt 22:37-39), and even our enemies (Mt 5:44). We live in Love (Jn 15:10). Love LOVE.
PRAYER: Lord and Love, may I live in You and You in me (1 Jn 4:16).
PROMISE: "You turned to God from idols, to serve Him Who is the living and true God and to await from heaven the Son He raised from the dead – Jesus, Who delivers us from the wrath to come." –1 Thes 1:9-10
PRAISE: Praise Jesus, our risen Lord and Love! He has taken "His seat at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven, as far superior to the angels as the name He has inherited is superior to theirs" (Heb 1:3-4). Alleluia!
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