THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Facing the Stranger Within

We are now nearing the end of our liturgical year. Over the next few weeks, we hear God's most powerful messages of what disciples are to do to grow closer to God. 

In today's readings, God reminds us that we all are aliens in a strange land. Our responsibility to the alien is to be welcoming and to care for them. Many times, scripture puts aliens, widows and orphans in the same position in society: they have no social support system, and if they don't have family or sponsors, they can be abused and neglected by the community. 

God calls us in the Book of Exodus to remember that we, too, are aliens in a strange land, and we are cared for by God who provides us with what we need. Paul reminds us in the second reading that we must become model Christians so that those who see God in us can know what God is calling us toward. We must be models to help new disciples understand that God calls all of us to care for those around us.

In today’s Gospel, Matthew (Matt 22:36-39) emphasizes Jesus’ most important instructions: our job as Christians is to love God and one another. Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:5 (“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind”), and Leviticus 19:18 (“You shall love your neighbor as yourself”). The most difficult job Jesus asks us to do is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. (For anyone who knows me, I use this quote a lot.) 

But the harder part of this command is not to love our neighbor, but to love ourselves. As we grow in our understanding of God in our lives, we must sometimes face the strange alien hiding within our very selves. We all have a unique sense of identity and belonging, and our memories can sometimes make us feel like strangers to ourselves. Am I really the person that I remember? We may at times sense an emotional disconnect from our past or future selves. In reminding us to love ourselves, Jesus is asking us to listen and connect with our primary selves, which flows out of our relationship with God.  

God is calling us in this Gospel to put God first, and loving each other will fall into place. If society could only understand and take to heart what Jesus tells us in these last few weeks of our liturgical year, we would not have to grieve our family members and friends who are lost too soon. God is calling all of us to take time to listen.

--Sue Unger

Send Us Forth are reflections written by St. Matthew parishioners and friends.