October 26, 2014

30th Sun., Ordinary Time

October 26, 2014:  30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

  • 'Sword' pin:  "I will kill you with the sword" (1st reading)
  • 'Rock,' 'shield,' and 'angel with horn' pins:  "My God, my rock of refuge, my shield, the horn of my salvation" (psalm)
  • 'Golden calf' tie pin:  "You turned from idols to serve the true God" (2nd reading)
  • 'Hearts' tie:  "You shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart... and love your neighbor as yourself" (gospel)

Listen

Pope Francis

Angelus:  God's law is summed up in love for God and neighbor; you can't love God without loving our neighbor and you can't love your neighbor without loving God.  The novelty of Christ’s teaching is the union of the two commandments; read Benedict XVI's reflection on this in Deus caritas est paragraphs 16-18.  Jesus completes the law, which he unites in himself, divinity and humanity, a single mystery of love.  Love is the measure of faith, and faith is the soul of love; we can't separate the life of piety from service to others.

To International Association of Criminal Law:  The death penalty, and extralegal execution, is homicide committed behind the screen of law.  Fight for the abolition of the death penalty and improvement of prison conditions to respect human dignity.  Life sentence = concealed death sentence.  There's been conviction that public punishment can solve social problems, as if the same medicine could treat different diseases; it's pushed the system into the realm of freedom and human rights without effectiveness.  We can lose sight of the proportionality of penalties to the scale of our values.

 Detention of suspects is a illicit hidden punishment; it punishes people who haven't been convicted.  Much detention is inhuman and degrading; it can be from deficiencies of law, lack of infrastructure or planning, or arbitrary and merciless exercise of power.  Maximum-security prison is a form of torture; the isolation results in an increased tendency to suicide.  Children, sole guardians of them or of disabled people, and the old, sick, pregnant, or disabled must at least within limits be spared imprisonment.

 Human trafficking is the result of the cycle of poverty that traps a billion people and forces millions to flee.  It's impossible to commit such a crime without the complicity of the State.  The corrupt may persecute whomever contradicts them; corruption, a greater evil than sin, must be cured.  Criminal sanction captures only the small fish and leaves the big to swim free.  Corruption that causes grave social damage must be attacked most severely.  Respect for human dignity must not only limit officials' excesses but also orient the repression of attacks against it. (to International Association of Criminal Law)

Read
  • Ex 22:20-26  "Don't oppress aliens.  Don't wrong a widow or orphan; if you do, I'll hear their cry and kill you.  If you lend, don't extort by demanding interest.  If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, return it before sunset; if you don't I'll hear his cry, for I'm compassionate."
  • Ps 18:2-4, 47, 51  "I love you, Lord, my strength," my rock of refuge, fortress, deliverer, God, shield, horn of salvation, and stronghold!  Praised be you who gave victory to your king and showed kindness to your anointed.
    Click for animation
  • 1 Thes 1:5c-10  You became imitators of us and the Lord, receiving the word in affliction, with joy, to become a model for believers.  For from you the Lord's word has sounded forth so we don't need to say anything.  They declare how you turned from idols to serve the living God and await his Son Jesus who delivers us.
  • Mt 22:34-40  Law scholar / Jesus:  "Which commandment in the law is the greatest?" / "First and greatest:  Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind.  The second is like it:  Love your neighbor as yourself.  The law and prophets depend on these two."
Reflect
Shema
    • Creighton:  Jesus lived and rarely lightened the Law and Prophets' moral mandates.  Jesus started his answer with the Shema (Dt 6:5): “Hear, O Israel...,” then added "love your neighbor" (Lv 19:18), perhaps originally meaning 'fellow countryman,' but Jesus broadened it.
    • One Bread One Body:  God is Love.  By God's grace, we love Love with our heart, soul, mind, and strength and love ourselves, our neighbors, and our enemies.
    • Passionist:  To love and serve God is to love and serve neighbor.  God's word becomes flesh, becomes real, as we welcome the stranger, heal the sick, feed the hungry, and show compassion.  Luke's version of today's gospel (10:25-37) answers "Who is my neighbor."  God defends the poor, outcasts, widows, and sinners.  How can I be a good neighbor today to those in need?  We intuitively know...
    • DailyScripture.net:  God puts us first; do I put God first?  True love freely gives to others for their sake.
    • Saints from Universalis, if not trumped by Sunday:  St. Chad, abbot, bishop.  St. Cedd, Chad's brother, bishop.
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