When Jesus proclaims the two great commandments, He declares that all people should be treated with unconditional love and mercy. Putting those two great commandments in their rightful place in our lives makes our choices simpler — but not any easier. To love God and our neighbor as oneself is a difficult life instruction. But no matter the difficulty, it is the instruction that Jesus gives.
A reading from the Book of Exodus for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time gives us the ancient teaching from God about how we are to treat those most vulnerable in our midst. Whether God is talking about the poor, widows, orphans or strangers, He tells us of the special place in His heart for the most vulnerable. Since we are God’s hands, hearts and feet here on earth, we are asked to do what He instructs for God.
Amid that Old Testament reading, there are specific instructions about how to live. If we lend money to the poor, we should not act as extortioners. The image of taking a cloak from a neighbor is concrete. The important question is how the neighbor will stay alive through the night if he doesn’t have the cloak to cover himself. If widows or orphans are left on their own, they have few resources to keep themselves alive, much less the benefits that almost everyone has.
God is trying to help us remember our own roots so that we have compassion for those who are going through the same situation as our ancestors. Imagine being an enslaved person brought into the United States as another person’s property. Imagine the break up in families in those situations. An average enslaved person only lived seven years under that brutal system. The results of slavery still affect us today as we try to learn to live with each other and to heal those wounds. Are we part of the solution, or are we part of the problem? God tells us clearly that He will hear the cries of the poor and the stranger among us and hold us responsible for any ways we have not helped our neighbor.
Loving God above all things and all people puts the rest of our lives in proper order. In loving God, we experience His incredible and immeasurable love for us. We notice how our needs are taken care of and how our life is better than we could ever earn or deserve. Our security will come from and with God and not other objects or persons.
At All Saints Parish, we are celebrating our 200th anniversary. We already have ministries in our parish to reach out to many of the people mentioned in the reading from the Book of Exodus. But our parish, and all other parishes, cannot rest on laurels and be satisfied with the status quo. We are called time and again to a deeper love for God. We are asked to let God love us more and more each day. That interchange of love will help us to be more tomorrow than we are today.
When we celebrate All Saints Day (Nov. 1) and All Souls Day (Nov. 2), we remember those who have gone before us, and we give thanks to God and pray for them. Let’s make sure that we are praying to have the courage to emulate the lives of the saints, especially those we have known through our families and parishes. Let us not settle for less than what we could be and what we could do.
Two great commandments. Simply expressed, but difficult to live. But we can do this together with God’s love in our lives.
Father Donald Wester is pastor of All Saints Parish in St. Peters.