31st  Sunday in Ordinary Time

My dear parishioners,

God is Good!!!  All the time!!!  And all the time!!!  God is Good!!!

Moses is concerned for the well-being of the people of Israel when the time comes for him to take leave of them. He has been their spiritual guide for 40 years. Soon Joshua will replace him and lead them across the Jordan River into the promised land. When that day comes, they must not allow the bounty of that land to make them complacent in their devotion to God. If they begin to entertain notions of self-reliance, they will risk losing the gifts only God can give them.

When Jesus has an exchange with a scribe, the dynamic is typically a controversy. The scribes would confront Jesus on a variety of issues, usually having to do with his observance of the purity laws. Today’s Gospel narrates an exchange between Jesus and a scribe, but there is no controversy. The scribe seems genuinely interested in learning from what Jesus has to say. Jesus, on the other hand, affirms the goodness of the scribe.

Which commandment ranks as number one? This was a frequent discussion among rabbis. It focused on the 613 precepts that Moses received orally in addition to the Ten Commandments. Because there was no clear consensus, Jesus is questioned by a scribe seeking to know where he stands in this debate. It is not a trick question to test Jesus. The scribe is sincerely interested in Jesus’ opinion.

Two commandments rather than one. The response of Jesus is rather traditional—with the exception that he offers two commandments rather than one. He combines Deuteronomy 6:4–5 with Leviticus 19:18. The emphasis in Deuteronomy 6:4–6 is on the necessity of loving God with the whole person: heart, soul, mind, and strength. Notice that the stress is on interiority rather than on external ritual observance. One’s inner disposition is what matters most. The second commandment Jesus includes highlights loving one’s neighbor as one’s self. The connecting link between these two commandments is the word love.  At the time of Jesus, the mandate to love one’s neighbor as one’s self did not have the many psychological overtones that it will accumulate in modern thought. Jesus is here functioning as a rabbi—not as a psychologist.

“Well said, teacher.” The scribe likes what Jesus said and approves the way Jesus has combined two commandments into one. He especially likes the stress on interiority rather than on burnt offerings and sacrifices alone. Jesus is not condemning the Jewish sacrificial system but rather is emphasizing the priority of inner disposition. This encounter concludes in a rather remarkable way. The scribe praises Jesus, who affirms that the scribe is not far from the kingdom of God.

Excerpts from “Sunday Homily Helps”, is used by permission of Franciscan Media. www.FranciscanMedia.org. All rights reserved

 Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Aloysius