Matthew 22:34-40

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.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I love you with all my heart. Reign in my heart and purify my desires, that I may seek you above all things. I love you with all my soul. Fill my soul with your grace, that I may remain united to you. I love you with all my mind. Bestow upon me the gift of wisdom, that I may know you more deeply and love you more perfectly. Teach me to love my neighbor as myself and to make my whole life an offering of love to you.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Testing Jesus: The Pharisees were unable to trap Jesus with the question about paying taxes to Caesar (Matthew 22:15). So, they sent a scholar of the Law to ask Jesus another question. The intention of this question was not to trap Jesus but to test Jesus. Unlike the question about paying taxes, this question doesn’t seem to have ill will toward Jesus. “There is not necessarily a trap here. Rabbis often debated which laws within the Torah carried precedence, and discovering the way an individual Rabbi prioritized or ranked the Mosaic laws gave insight into his interpretive approach or legal system” (Bergsma, The Word of the Lord: Year A, 452). There were 613 laws to choose from. Here, the Pharisees wanted to see if Jesus was truly a Rabbi and scholar of the Law of Moses. They were testing whether this carpenter from Nazareth, with no formal training in a Rabbinic school in Jerusalem, could answer a question about the Law.

2. These Two Commandments: According to Jesus, the entire Torah (the first five books of the Bible) and the Prophets hang on the two commandments to love. Jesus first cites Deuteronomy 6:5 from the Shema, “the monotheistic creed of Israel that the faithful recited as part of their daily prayers” (Mitch and Sri, The Gospel of Matthew, 288). We are called to love God with our entire being. Love is not a passing emotion or feeling. Love is an action, a giving of oneself, a commitment to keep the covenant relationship with someone. Jesus then cites Leviticus 19:18 about loving our neighbor. “Neighbor” includes our family, our friends, the people in our community, and even our enemies. John will teach in his First Letter that love of God and love of neighbor go together. We are liars if we say we love God without loving our brothers and sisters. The flip side is also true: we cannot truly love our brothers and sisters without divine love.  

3. Love in Service of the Church: Saint Pope Pius X understood that love for God cannot remain hidden within the heart. It must bear fruit in concrete acts of service. Born Giuseppe Sarto, he served the Church as a parish priest, bishop, patriarch of Venice, and finally as Pope. His pontificate was marked by a profound desire to renew the Church and lead souls closer to Christ. His motto, Instaurare omnia in Christo – “To restore all things in Christ” – expressed this desire. Pius X worked especially to make the Eucharist more accessible to the faithful, encouraging frequent and even daily Communion and lowering the age for children to receive their First Communion. He also promoted the renewal of sacred music, strengthened catechesis, and defended the integrity of the Catholic faith. His reforms were not simply administrative projects. They flowed from his love for Christ and his desire that others might encounter Christ and receive the grace necessary for salvation. Saint Pius X therefore gives us a concrete example of the two great commandments. He loved God with his whole heart, soul, and mind, and that love moved him to spend himself for the good of his neighbor. His life reminds us that authentic love of God always seeks the good of others. The more deeply we love Christ, the more we should desire that others know, love, and receive him.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I humbly ask you to bestow your blessing upon me. Bless me with the gift of eternal life. Bless me with the gift of divine sonship. Bless me with the gift of sharing in your divine glory. Having received so many blessings from your generous heart, teach me to respond with love. I will strive to love the Father with all my heart, soul, and mind, and to love my neighbor as myself. May my whole life become an expression of gratitude for your love and a means of sharing that love with others.

Living the Word of God: How have I expressed my love for God? Have I given him my time in prayer, praised him with my words, received the Eucharist worthily, offered sacrifices for him, served others for his sake, or sought to grow in holiness? What one concrete act of love can I offer to God today? Jesus commands me to love my neighbor as myself: Who has received too little of my love, patience, forgiveness, or attention this month? What concrete act can I make today to communicate Christ’s love to that person? Saint Pius X spent his life restoring all things in Christ and bringing souls closer to him. What part of my life does Jesus most desire to restore? What is one concrete change I can make so that my family, workplace, parish, or community may encounter Christ more clearly through me?