First Reading

A reading from the Book of Exodus (22:20-26)

Thus says the Lord: "You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt. You shall not wrong any widow or orphan. If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry. My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword; then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans."

"If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people, you shall not act like an extortioner toward him by demanding interest from. If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before sunset; for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body. What else has he to sleep in? if he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate."

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalms of David (18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51)

(R) I love you, Lord my strength.

I love you, O Lord, my strength, O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer. (R)

My God, my rock of refuge, my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold! Praised be the Lord, I exclaim, and I am safe from my enemies. (R)

The Lord lives and blessed be my rock! Extolled be God my savior. You who gave great victories to your king and showed kindness to your anointed. (R)

Second Reading

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians (1:5c-10)

Brothers and sisters: You know what sort of people we were among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit, so that you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

For from you're the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only in Macedonia and in Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. For they themselves openly declare about us what sort of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to await His Son from heaven, who He raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Gospel

A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew (22:34-40)

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

(P) The Gospel of the Lord.
(R) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily

A young man was standing at a grocery store checkout line when he noticed an elderly woman in front of him. As she was pushing her trolley, she kept looking up and staring at him. After a few awkward moments, he asked, "Why do you keep staring at me?" The woman said, "I'm sorry, but it's just that you look exactly like my son who recently died." "I'm so sorry to hear that", the young man replied. "Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked. "Yes", she said. "As I leave, if you would say, "Goodbye, Mother" it would be very comforting and would make me feel much better", she said. "I'd be glad to do that for you", he answered. As the old woman was leaving the store, he called out, "Goodbye, Mother!" And after a while when his turn came to pay the bill, it came to $450.00. "How can that be? I only purchased a few items." He complained to the clerk. "Oh", the clerk replied, "Your mother said that you would pay for her".

In today's first reading from the Book of Exodus we read some guidelines or obligations in accordance with the law that God had established during the days of Moses to help the poor particularly the strangers, widows and orphans among the people of Israel. God prohibited any kind of oppression against the poor on three grounds:

"You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt", (v. 20). That is to say, the Lord wanted the Israelites to remember their own pain inflicted by injustice and oppression during their enslavement in Egypt and, how they were protected and looked after until they were miraculously liberated.
"If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people you shall not act like an extortioner toward him by demanding interest from him. If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before sunset; for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body", (v. 24-25). In other words, the Lord reminded the Israelites of their covenant with Him which ruled out any exploitation. Instead the covenant required them to administer true justice, show mercy and compassion to their poor neighbors.
"You shall not wrong any widow or orphan. If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry; for I am compassionate, (v. 22, v. 26). To put it another way, God warned the people of Israel that if they did not follow His command to avoid inflicting pain and suffering on anyone, they should have to face God's judgment for He is compassionate and just and that He hears the cry of the poor.

What is the message for us? The Lord reminds us of our duty to love our fellow human beings especially the poor, the strangers, the weak, the helpless, the marginalized, the vulnerable, the widows and the orphans in our midst. He wants us to show our care and concern for others just as He had commanded the Israelites.

Remember the past. From birth, all of us have experienced being aliens or strangers ourselves many times in different environments and situations - in our families, schools, work places, communities and foreign lands. In all these environments and situations we all get to experience prejudice, discrimination, abuse, exploitation, pain and suffering. Our experiences must motivate us to treat everyone with kindness and protect the vulnerable from inhumane treatment.
Remember the covenant. At baptism we have made covenant with God. The covenant demands that we share our knowledge, skill and wealth for the benefit of others, particularly with the poor and, we should avoid causing distress and pain to others, out of greed and selfishness and by deception, manipulation, and exploitation.
Remember God's love for the poor. The Lord is a God of compassion and justice. In both the Old and New Testaments, we see God's concern for the poor, vulnerable and oppressed and His desire for His children to show compassion to them. For instance, in the Book of Proverbs we read that God loves the poor and is offended when His children neglect them - "Whoever is kind to the poor is lending to Yahweh who will repay him the kindness done", Proverbs (19:17). "To oppress the week insults the Creator, kindness to the needy honors the Creator", Proverbs (14:31).

Many times in the four gospels we read that Jesus was moved with compassion. "When a man with leprosy came to him ... Jesus moved with compassion, stretched out his hand, and touched him, Mark (1:40-41). "When Jesus saw the crowd, he was moved with compassion for them because they were weary and scattered, like sheep without a shepherd, Matthew (9:36). "Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed him", Matthew (20:34). These instances show that Jesus entered into another person's suffering and responded with an act of mercy. He heard the cry of the destitute and was moved with compassion to act. True compassion, therefore, is not just feeling sorry for someone. It is to be moved to relieve the burden of those in need. And all of us have the ability to do that. God's justice requires us to treat one another with compassion and love. Let us never forget the fact that on the Day of Judgment God will judge us and one of the criteria of the judgment will be whether or not we have shown compassion to other people especially those who suffer.

(P) Amen.

God Bless You!

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