Talk for the Thirtieth Sunday in O.T.
October 23rd, 2011
Christ-like Love

"From about 1948 to 1964, there were at least 80 unsolved bombings of black churches, homes and businesses in Birmingham, Ala. When others were terrified to stand up and speak out, Fred Shuttlesworth, who died Oct. 5 at 89, put his body on the line to end segregation in Birmingham and the state of Alabama. He was fearless, beaten with chains, his home and church were bombed, and he lived under constant threat of violence and murder. But he never, ever lost faith in the power of love to overcome hate. He was doggedly determined on the one hand but a modest, gentle spirit on the other. He just wanted to make a difference. And he did. Through his courage and sacrifice, he helped liberate not just a people but an entire nation from the burden of hate.” TIME Magazine — Oct. 24 Issue.

The Palm Beach Post last Sunday had an inspiring story about "The remarkable Roy Rood," a landscaper who, for half a century, created some of Florida’s loveliest landscapes, but much more than that, Roy was a nurturer of people — a kind, moral man, who died at 92. The article states, that once, one of his workers drove a front-end loader over a sea wall at an oceanfront estate. Rood fired him on the spot. That night, Rood went to the employee's house, and apologized for losing his temper. He hired him back and the man worked for him for about 30 years. Roy Rood lived by the acronym JOY, his daughter said: ”It stood for Jesus, Others,You, for the order of what is important in life." We all want joy in our life, and Roy has lived it, and now passes it on to us.  Love, Christ-like love (as we heard about Fred Shuttlesworth) demands ’courage and sacrifice.'

Our first reading from Exodus  22: ”You shall not oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt. You shall not wrong any widow of orphan."

People came to Israel because of war and famine, and Israel made special laws for such people—compare that to the reality of the migrant today. In Georgia a potato farmer did not have enough workers to harvest his crop; yet the State of Georgia has passed a very severe law against migrants. Our responsorial psalm: ”I love you Lord, my strength, O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.” Pope Benedict said in his speech in Berlin, Sept 22nd  that he had come to remind the German people of their "responsibility before God and before one another." "The world," he said, "needs  a 'profound cultural renewal' and the rediscovery of fundamental values upon which to build a better future.” 

Paul in the second reading encourages us to become a ‘model for all believers.’ Our gospel from Matt 22 answers the question: "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said: ”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 similar:  "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments. The Gospel of the Lord.