30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 If you visit a Jewish home, you might notice a small decorative case attached to the doorframe. It's called a mezuzah.

Inside that little case is a small scroll containing passages from the Book of Deuteronomy, including one of the most important prayers in Judaism, known as the Shema.

It begins, "Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone!" And then comes the commandment to love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.

Many Jewish people have the custom of touching the mezuzah as they pass through the doorway, as a reminder of their relationship with God and their responsibility to live according to his commandments.

Now, why am I telling you this?

Because in today's Gospel, a scholar of the law approaches Jesus and asks him a question:

"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"

And out of all the commandments Jesus could have chosen, he quotes that very passage from Deuteronomy!

In other words, the answer to the scholar's question was practically hanging on his doorpost!

He already knew those words. So did the Pharisees. So did Jesus.

Sometimes the most obvious answer is the best answer.

But Jesus doesn't stop there.

He adds another commandment, this time from the Book of Leviticus:

"You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

And then he says that the whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.

Love God. Love your neighbor.

Sounds simple enough, doesn't it?

Well, there's just one problem.

Knowing something by heart and taking it to heart are two very different things.

And I suspect that's as true for us today as it was for the people listening to Jesus two thousand years ago.

Because we all know we're supposed to love our neighbor.

We've heard it since we were children. We teach it to our children. We hear it proclaimed at Mass.

But what happens when that neighbor is someone we don't particularly like?

Someone who disagrees with us?

Someone who has hurt us?

Someone who makes our lives difficult?

Suddenly, a commandment that sounds so simple becomes a whole lot more challenging!

And that's where today's first reading becomes so important.

God tells the Israelites:

"You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt."

God reminds them of their own history.

They knew what it was like to be strangers in a foreign land. They knew what it was like to be vulnerable, to be afraid, and to depend on the mercy of others.

And God tells them not to forget that experience when they encounter someone else who needs their compassion.

It's a reminder that before we judge another person's circumstances, perhaps we should remember the times when we ourselves needed understanding, patience, or mercy.

And this isn't just about strangers in a foreign land.

It's about the people we encounter every day.

The family member we haven't spoken to in years.

The coworker who gets on our nerves.

The person who has disappointed us.

The neighbor who always seems to have something to complain about.

Jesus doesn't tell us we have to agree with those people.

He doesn't tell us we have to approve of everything they do.

And he certainly doesn't tell us we have to allow ourselves to be mistreated.

But he does tell us to love them.

And sometimes that love is expressed in very simple ways.

Listening instead of arguing.

Speaking kindly about someone when it would be easier to criticize them.

Offering help to someone without first deciding whether they deserve it.

Praying for someone we'd rather complain about.

None of those things requires us to compromise our convictions.

They simply require us to remember that the person standing before us is someone God loves.

And this is why Jesus places these two commandments together.

Because we cannot claim to love God with all our hearts while refusing to love the people God has placed in our lives.

Our love for our neighbor is one of the ways our love for God becomes visible.

So maybe the question we should take home with us today isn't whether we know the commandment to love our neighbor.

Of course we know it.

The question is whether we're willing to live it.

Think for a moment about the person in your life whom you find most difficult to love.

What would it look like to show that person a little more patience, a little more kindness, or a little more compassion this week?

Because the greatest commandment isn't something we're simply supposed to memorize, recite, or hang on our doorposts.

It's something we're supposed to live.

There's a difference between knowing God's commandments by heart and taking them to heart.

And that difference can be seen in the way we treat one another.

Amen.