31st SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B) 4th November 2018
The reflections for Sundays and Solemnities is an activity of Society of St Paul, India A Reflection by: FR SAVIO LOBO GOOD SHEPHERD CHURCH, 4 BUNGALOWS, ANDHERI(W), MUMBAI. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Love of God and Love of Neighbour are Inseparable Monica, a 16 year old Commerce student of SNDT College, was on her way home ,when she fell off a crowded train at Ghatkopar railway station. This incident occured at 1.50 pm and she was admitted to KEM at 4.30 pm. In this heartbreaking incident, she lost both her arms. The doctors said, had she been rushed from the station directly to KEM and the severed limb carried in an ice-box as it was, the chances of a successful re-attachment would have been higher. The doctors, however, were full of praise for Amjad and Naseem the two brothers who rushed Monica to Rajawadi Hospital. Had the brothers not helped, the girl would have died of excessive bleeding. She was a total stranger to them and yet they came to her rescue. She is back to her old job again with the use of prosthetic limbs. These two boys have set an example for us. This generous act of theirs implicitly states that, If we truly love God, it goes without saying we need to love our neighbours, irrespective of their differences. Love of God and love of neighbour are inseparable. Our love for God is concretized and expressed in our love for fellow human beings. Jesus in the gospel of today is highlighting this very fact by giving the great commandment, which summarizes the teaching of the entire old covenant in two commandments. The 1st is the Shema (“Heb. for hear”) the central prayer and confession of faith for Jews. It meant that Yahweh is not only the one God of the Jews but the one and only God of the whole universe. Thus the Shema is considered by the Israelites a summary or creed of their faith in one God of the universe. The 2nd is taken from Lev 19:18 which also speaks of love of neighbour. Together these injunctions/commands underlie all 613 precepts of the Mosaic Law and especially the 10 commandments. This refinement of Yahweh’s revealed law into 2 commandments was prefigured by the 2 stone tablets of the Decalogue Ex 34:1. Jesus by giving the great commandment is telling us that, if we are able to keep these commandments half the battle is won. We are not far from the Kingdom of God. Now I am sure each one of us intends to enter the Kingdom of God. For that we have to figure out who is our neighbour. Are the ones whom I know and love only my neighbours? Surely not! As we all know each and every person created by God is our neighbour. Yet at times we tend to forget this basic truth. We are not kind to all, especially to certain groups of people in our society from which I would like to highlight 3 groups. The first would be the psychologically affected, as their mental condition is considered as a stigma in society especially in India. They are referred to as so called “cracks”. Therefore unfortunately they avoid taking treatment out of the fear of being labelled. The second would be the third gender people, the so called Eunuchs, they too do not have a social standing. They are not like this by choice. They are like this because they have been created in such a manner. The third would be the gays and lesbians whom again people look down upon. They are also mocked by the society. However as Christians we are to care for them without accepting their actions. Because if our heavenly Father does not make any distinction then who are we, the same sun and rain is given to each one of us, are they not created by the same God who has created you and me, then why are we treating them differently. Picking up from this let us engrave this fact in our hearts that love of God and love of neighbour our inseparable. Once this is understood there is no stopping w.r.t. our entry into the Kingdom of God. Dear friends,let us open our hearts today as God is filling us with this wisdom that love of God and love of neighbour are inseparable.
