“LOVE IS THE FULFILLING OF THE LAW” (Rom 13:10)

⏰Wednesday of the Thirty-First Week of Ordinary Time 1 (08 Nov 2017)

????Rom 13:8-10; Ps 112:1b-2, 4-5, 9 (R.v.5a); Luke 14:25-33

There is something that happened in Matt 22:34-40 that we need to pay attention to. The Pharisees are the teachers of the Law, and they try to preserve the Law against adulteration. Hence, they parade themselves as models. So, apart from tempting Jesus, they also wanted to prove their sanctity by their keeping of the Law.

Jesus then educated them, just as St. Paul reiterates in Rom 13:8-10, that nobody can claim to be keeping the Law if he has not learnt to love. St. John was more emphatic when he declared that anyone who claims to love God but does not love his brother is a liar (cf. 1 John 4:20).

This love thinks about others more than the self. That is what the Lucan Jesus tries to communicate to the early Christians, who embraced the Christian love with much zeal but were being distracted by the family and worldly affairs. A good ambassador of love must be ready to sacrifice all, including his life, for the sake of love (see Luke 14:25-33).

Can you be brave enough to live an exemplary life of sacrificial love? When it becomes too difficult to do, we run to Jesus and ask him, “Lord, teach us to love as you love.” Amen.

Have a lovely day ahead. Peace be with you.