Love in any language
In our Gospel today, we read about the confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees, where they try to test and trap Jesus with their questions.
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In our Gospel today, we read about the confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees, where they try to test and trap Jesus with their questions.
As Christians, we are expected to follow Jesus's example — to fill the world with love.
And each of us is being reminded as God's people to love — both God and our fellow brothers and sisters. Love is always at the center of our Christian faith and devotion to God, and it is around which our whole faith and existence revolve. Without love, our faith in God is empty and meaningless, useless and void.
We exist in the first place because of God's love for every one of us. We were created and saved by God because of His love for us. Love is and has always been the cornerstone of our faith in God and is the most fundamental and core tenet of our Christian beliefs.
In the Book of Exodus, the Lord, through Moses, tells the people that as He presented Himself to them everything He expects of all of them that in all their ways, actions, and everything they say and do, they would always be exemplary, faithful and committed to God.
As God's people, we are to obey His Law and commandments just as He has shown and commanded us to do. The Lord wants every one of us to be truly filled with love, first of all, love for Him, and at the same time, each one of us to love one another. This love for God and our brethren would show the world that we live our lives wholeheartedly and properly as Christians.
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God continues to reveal Himself to us, His people, so that we too may love Him with all our heart as we practice and experience the same love in our interactions with our brothers and sisters around us.
In our Gospel today, we read about the confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees, where they try to test and trap Jesus with their questions. The Pharisees were a group of Jews who were very particular and concerned regarding the Law of God, which had been handed down through Moses and many generations after that in favor of the people of God — from time to time and from mouth to mouth, in oral and written traditions down the many centuries since the time of the Exodus.
Now, the Law of God has undergone many changes, additions, and transformations, as the teachers and preservers of the Law and commandments, traditions, and customs of the people of God have made amendments and modifications according to the prevailing conditions and situations of the time. This resulted in the Law of God and its many stipulations and tenets, as listed in the Torah or the original Scriptures in the Books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, to be twisted and changed out of context from their original purpose.
It is worth mentioning today that the Pharisees were particularly concerned about the details, rituals, and practices of the Law as one of the most influential groups and leaders in the Jewish community. The Pharisees were very strict and rigid in interpreting the Law of God, as they enforced upon the people a very detailed, ritualistic, and particular way of observing the Law, from how they ought to live their lives in the community, the practice of ritual washing and purification, and the enforcement of the Law of the Sabbath and the ban on any works and actions on that day, among many other things.
The Pharisees, however, needed to appreciate and understand the spirit of the Law, the intention of why the Lord had given the Law to us. God's law teaches us all about love and how love is crucial for us to understand, appreciate, and apply the Law fruitfully in our lives.
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Today, Divine Master Sunday, on behalf of Batch Arete, Maryhill School of Theology, our greetings and felicitations to the Pious Disciples of the Divine Master to which our professor in Liturgy, Sr. Ma. Cecilia Payawal, PDDM, belongs as they celebrate their feast day.
