Opening Prayer Series: 30th Sunday of Year A

The Opening Prayer for the 30th Sunday of Year A reads as follows:

Let us pray,

(for the strength to do God's will)

Almighty and ever-living God,

strengthen our faith, hope and love.

May we do with loving hearts, 

what you ask of us 

and come to share the life You promise.

In making this prayer tangible, the following reflection questions emerged

1. What is God's will?
2. What is God's will for me?
3. What changes do I need to make to live according to God's will for me?
4. How can I strengthen my faith, hope and love during this coming week?
5. What does God ask of me?
6. What are the areas of my heart that need more of God's love?
7. What changes will I make to these areas of my heart?
8. What is the life God promises me?

In today's Gospel, the following aspects caught my attention.  Firstly, both the Pharisees and the Sadducees  were out to get Jesus at any cost.  They banded together to bring Jesus down, even though each group disliked each other. The common thread of motive here seems to be power and revenge, and if each group had to 'sacrifice' a certain amount of pride to get the job done, then it seemed to them that the outcome would be worth it, especially as they had safety in numbers.  This to me is a Gospel example of our modern day work place bullying of employer vs employee and/or employer vs trade union members. The same motive is at work even if the method is more seemingly sophisticated. Unfortunately, the same method is being used by young children at primary school when they bully another child in their class.

The reply Jesus gave them outwitted them because He reminded them of the commandment of love which they would have been familiar from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19.18. In essence, He reminded them to love God first and then to love God by loving one's neighbour. Throughout the Gospel we hear the commandment to love, and in the Church we hear many homilies exhorting us to do that. 

However, it seems to me that often a vital ingredient of this commandment is overlooked or downplayed- the commandment to love God by loving ourselves in a healthy manner. If we do not love ourselves appropriately, then it is difficult to love our neighbour, because we cannot give what we do not have on our own.  With the help of God , we can all learn to love ourselves in a healthy manner. God will provide the missing elements especially when we ask Him in prayer.

The Pharisees and Sadducees most likely missed the point of the reply of Jesus.  In essence Jesus is saying to love God with your whole heart, soul and mind  and to treat others as you would like to be treated yourself out of love for God. Therefore, loving God also means to love yourself out of love for God, since it God who created you out of love, and then out of love for God, you will love your neighbour.

Let's see what we can do to put this commandment into practice this coming week in our family, workplace and parish.