30th Sunday Year A

Matthew 22:34-40

You shall love the Lord your God and your neighbor as
yourself.

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
they assembled in a body; and one of them, a lawyer, in an
attempt to trip him up, asked him, "Teacher, which commandment
of the law is the greatest?" Jesus said to him:

"'You shall love the Lord your God
with your whole heart,
with your whole soul,
and with all your mind.'

This is the greatest and first commandment. The second is like
it:

'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

On these two commandments the whole law is based, and the
prophets as well."

The gospel of the Lord.

The gospel for this 30th Sunday Year A is taken from Matthew 22:
34-40. It is a passage where we shall see a lawyer, who is part
of the assembly of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He wanted to
challenge Jesus with a question, asking Him, "Teacher, which
commandment of the law is the greatest?" And Jesus answered:


"'You shall love the Lord your God
with your whole heart,
with your whole soul,
and with all your mind.'

...The second is like it:

'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

With that answer of Jesus, we are able to see in so few words,
what all the Ten Commandments and all of the teachings of the Old
Testament prophets and the teachings of Jesus and St. Paul in the
New Testament, are writing about. It is the Christian commandment
summed up in its essential form. Therefore, it can act as a simple
guide for us in our daily Christian living, and when we need to go
to the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. It can help us
examine our consciences. Dwelling in this answer of Jesus, we can
let His Spirit search our hearts and see how, by action or
inaction, we have sinned. Three essential relationships are
brought to us for healing in the sacrament: our relationship with
God, with others (especially family and everyday social contacts),
and with ourselves (the way we used our senses, food, drink, etc.).

29th Sunday Year A

Matthew 22:15-21

Give to Caesar the things the belong to Caesar and to
God the things that are God's.

The Pharisees went off and began to plot how they might trap
Jesus in speech. They sent their disciples to him, accompanied
by Herodian sympathizers, who said: "Teacher, we know you are
a truthful man and teach God's way sincerely. You court no one's
favor and do not act out of human respect. Give us your opinion,
then, in this case. Is it lawful to pay tax to the emperor or
not?" Jesus recognized their bad faith and said to them, "Why
are you trying to trip me up, you hypocrites? Show me the coin
used for the tax." When they handed him a small Roman coin he
asked them, "Whose head is this, and whose inscription?"
"Caesar's," they replied. At that he said to them, "Then give
to Caesar what is Caesar's, but give to God what is God's."


The Gospel of the Lord.

In the gospel for the 29th Sunday of the Year, we will see how
the Pharisees were thinking how they could trap Jesus in His
speech. They sent their disciples to Jesus to ask Him: "Teacher,
give us Your opinion, is it lawful to pay tax to the emperor
or not?" Jesus recognized what their intention was in this
question. The question may have been probably related to a
controversy or issue for the Jews living in the Roman Empire
during that time. But Jesus gave the Pharisees' disciples a
wise and prudent answer: He asked for a coin and answered also
with a question - "whose head is in the coin and whose
inscription is in it?" They replied, "Caesar's." And then
Jesus ended what would have been a controversy and issue among
them by saying, "then give to Caesar what is Caesar's, but give
to God what is God's."

When we reflect on this gospel, the controversial question can
be seen to revolve around the elements of government, money,
God, and us. The question challenging Jesus was really meant
to trap Him because the Pharisees see Him as One revolting
against their Jewish law and teaching. But Jesus answered
wisely. And His answer helps us also to think a little more
deeply: do we give to institutions what is due them, and to
God what is due Him? It is true that the face of many leaders
of government are in our currencies. But let us place our
hearts in our imagination: "is the face of God in our hearts?"
If it is, then that is what is due our Lord. If not, then let
us humbly pray and work more that God's countenance becomes
clearer and brighter within the hearts of everyone in our
family and friends.

27th Sunday Year A

Gospel Matthew 21:33-43

"It was the Lord who did this and we find it marvelous to
behold"

The gospel for the 27th Sunday of the Year, begins with a parable
of a property owner who planted a vineyard, and leased it out to
tenant farmers, and then went on a journey. When vintage time
came, the property owner sent his slaves to obtain his share of
the grapes. But the tenants responded by mistreating his slaves
- some of whom they even killed. When he could not get his share
of the grapes, the property owner sent his son, thinking that the
tenants will respect his son. But the tenants knew that this son
would receive the vineyard as an inheritance from his father, the
property owner. And so they also killed him.


This parable Jesus spoke to the chief priests and elders of the
people was meant to make them discover that He was that son in
the parable, and His Father was the property owner. And the
slaves which the tenants mistreated, were the prophets who were
killed by the people Israel before Jesus became the prophet of
the new Israel.


We will be judged by the Lord by how we steward and shepherd the
gifts He has given us: our family, our work, our possessions, our
formal relationships, and friends. If we mistreat these people
or misuse the material things like the tenants in the parable,
the Lord will bring us to a bad end, and will give His blessings
to those who will take care of the gifts He has given us. The
lesson for us to learn in this parable is to respect everyone in
our social network, to treat them kindly, to be faithful in our
work and service of prayer to God, so that as Jesus inherited the
Kingdom from His Father, we shall also share in His inheritance:
a Kingdom filled with God's blessings, both material, and much
more importantly, spiritual - for both our family and our work.