{"id":7343,"date":"2011-10-17T12:00:19","date_gmt":"2011-10-17T19:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/?p=7343"},"modified":"2015-03-19T14:57:32","modified_gmt":"2015-03-19T21:57:32","slug":"sunday-lectionary-all-you-need-is-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/2011\/10\/17\/sunday-lectionary-all-you-need-is-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunday Lectionary: All you need is love"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m going to start trying to make these Sunday Lectionary posts a little bit shorter, both so that I get more of my weekend back and also so more people read them!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time: October 23rd, 2011<\/h2>\n

The Readings this week focus around the “vertical” and\u00a0“horizontal” dimensions of our faith, how we love God and how we love our neighbour. This finds its simplest and clearest expression in today’s Gospel passage when Jesus is asked which is the greatest of all the commandments…
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“Therefore the first commandment teaches every kind of godliness. For to love God with the whole heart is the cause of every good. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The second commandment includes the righteous acts we do toward other people. The first commandment prepares the way for the second and in turn is established by the second. For the person who is grounded in\u00a0the love of God clearly also\u00a0loves his neighbor in all things\u00a0himself. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The kind of person who\u00a0fulfills these two commandments\u00a0experiences all the\u00a0commandments.” <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

– St. Cyril of Alexandria, Early Church Father, 5th Century<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Reading I: Exodus 22:20-26<\/h3>\n

The book of Exodus is the second book in the Bible. It tells the story of the flight of the\u00a0Israelites\u00a0from slavery in Egypt. After they leave Egypt,\u00a0Moses<\/a>\u00a0leads the Children of Israel to Mount Sinai where they receive the Law of God.<\/p>\n

In the section we hear this Sunday, we hear how God commands the Israelites to act in relation to others…<\/p>\n

Thus says the LORD:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

“You shall not molest or oppress an alien,\u00a0for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt. You shall not wrong any widow or orphan.\u00a0<\/span><\/em>If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me,\u00a0I will surely hear their cry. My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword;\u00a0then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

“If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people,\u00a0you shall not act like an extortioner toward him\u00a0by demanding interest from him. If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge,\u00a0you shall return it to him before sunset;\u00a0for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body. What else has he to sleep in?\u00a0If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Questions:<\/p>\n