SUNDAY, THIRTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Ex 22: 21-27; Ps 18: 2-4, 47, 51; 1 Thes 1: 5-10; Mt 22: 34-40
TELL ME WHOM YOU LOVE, AND I’LL TELL YOU WHO YOU ARE
It is often said that if we really want to know who a person is, we should look at what or whom that person loves. Our loves reveal our priorities. They influence our decisions, shape our relationships, and gradually form the kind of people we become. A person may speak about many things, but ultimately, what we love tells the deeper story of our lives. In this sense, the readings today invite us to ask a simple yet profound question: Whom do I really love? And what does my love reveal about me?
In the Gospel, a Pharisee asks Jesus which commandment is the greatest. Jesus does not hesitate. He says that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind. But Jesus does something equally important: He immediately connects this love with another commandment: to love our neighbour as ourselves. For Jesus, these two loves cannot be separated. Love of God is not something that exists independently from the way we treat the people around us. The person who truly loves God will gradually learn to see, respect and love others with the heart of God.
The first reading gives us a very practical picture of what this love looks like. God speaks about the stranger, the widow, the orphan and the poor. These were people who could easily be ignored because they had little power or protection. Yet God warns His people not to take advantage of them. He even says that when they cry out, He will hear their cry. This reveals that God is especially attentive to those whom society can overlook. Therefore, loving our neighbour is not merely about being kind to people we like. It means becoming sensitive to those who are vulnerable, inconvenient, forgotten or unable to repay us. Sometimes it is someone who has hurt us or a lonely elderly person whom everyone else seems to avoid.
The second reading presents us with a beautiful example of this kind of Christian life. St Paul praises the Thessalonians because they had received the Gospel and allowed it to transform their lives. Their faith did not remain something they professed with their lips; it became something that could be seen in their lives. They themselves became a model for other believers. Their love for God became visible through the way they lived. This is perhaps one of the greatest challenges for Christians today. We can have beautiful churches, devotional practices, prayers, medals, rosaries and religious traditions which are all precious. But the world ultimately wants to know whether our faith has made us more loving. Can people see something of Christ in the way we relate with them?
A new version of ‘Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are,’ can be created today: ‘Tell me whom you love, and I will tell you who you are.’ If our hearts are filled with love for God, that love cannot remain hidden. It will eventually spill over into our relationships. We will become more compassionate, more patient, more forgiving and more attentive to the needs of others. Perhaps, then, today’s Gospel is not simply asking us whether we love God. It is asking us to examine what our love for God is producing in us. Does it make us kinder? Does it make us less judgmental? Does it make us more generous? Does it make us notice the person whom others ignore? Does it make our presence a source of peace and consolation?
At the end of our lives, people may forget many things about us: our achievements, possessions, positions and even our words. But they are unlikely to forget how we made them feel. They will remember whether our presence made them feel loved, welcomed, valued and cared for. That is the kind of faith the Thessalonians had: a faith that could be seen. And that is the kind of love Jesus asks of us: a love of God that becomes love of neighbour. So, as we reflect on these readings today, we are to carry one question with us: “If someone watched the way I love, what would they discover about the God I believe in?” May our answer be found not merely in our words, but in our lives. For ultimately, ‘tell me whom you love, and I will tell you who you are.’
Response: I love you, Lord, my strength.
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