St. Mary's Catholic Church of Tomahawk, WI

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

We are in the thirtieth ordinary Sunday of year A. The first reading is part of the laws originally referred to leaders, heads of households, tribal elders and adjudicators of legal cases. They are to set a divine tone of justice in cultures that aim to follow God’s law. It specifically deals with foreigners, widows, orphans and the financially destitute. Proper treatment to them is to avoid wrong-doing, oppression, extortion or other harm. Instead to embody God’s compassion towards them.

In the second reading we hear about the mix of suffering and joy experienced by the Thessalonians. Yet, by faithfully following their models, they embraced the faith with its accompanying hardships and joys. Their faith consisted in turning to God from idols and worshiping and serving Israel’s true and living God. They also maintained confident belief in Christ’s resurrection and trusted in His deliverance.

In the Gospel we hear the Lord teaching about the greatest Law. The laws in the Torah were recognized as gifts from God, the means of living the good life and the way of abiding in union with God and our neighbor. Our Lord Jesus being the embodiment of God’s law, the Word incarnate, distills the whole collection of laws into two basic and greatest laws. Hence the love of God highlights the indivisible link between care and regard for humanity with honor and love of God. One’s love for God expresses and calls for loving one’s neighbor.

Fr. Aloysius Royan Anthony