Walking with Jesus: 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

For Sunday, October 25, 2026

Exodus 22:20-26, 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10, Matthew 22:34-40


Today we have the teaching of Jesus on the greatest commandment. When applying His principle to everyone in the world around us, we see that every person has great value and meaning. Do I treat people this way? Many don’t. For example, hedonism — or “eat, drink and be merry” — does not take life seriously, believing that life is for satisfaction, self-gratification. Likewise, the “American dream” approaches life differently in its concern with material success, possessions and status, which are all external qualities. Narcissism concerns itself with excessive interest and admiration of oneself: self-love, self-obsession, conceit; disregard to any “lower class.” Christianity is serious about this world and the value of life and all life in it. What one hopes to become is only accomplished here and now, taking seriously both God and human life and connecting the two inseparably. Jesus puts it this way:

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. [Matthew 22:37-40]

Today’s passage from Exodus comes from the law codes of ancient Israel. It reveals the compassionate nature of those laws by stressing that the Israelites be especially attentive to members of the community who are most vulnerable, defenseless and in need. It singles out the alien, the widow and the orphan. What does this mean to them at that time? Israel is a patriarchal society based on the rights of free adult men. Women are under the jurisdiction of and benefit from the rights that belong to their fathers and brothers. When their fathers die, their husbands — and sons when their husbands die — are “in charge.” The label “widow” usually is only applied to childless women who cannot return to the jurisdiction of their families of origin when their husbands die. So often they are reduced to begging in the streets. Orphans are children who have no legal male guardians. They too are utterly vulnerable and neglected, living where they can. The law is also concerned with those within the community who are burdened financially. This burden is not to be exacerbated: interest-free loans are to be made available. Every effort is made to ensure that no added humiliation or distress are suffered in these situations. Even if a creditor takes a homeless neighbor’s cloak as collateral for a loan, he must return it to that neighbor before sunset. “If one cries out to Me … I am compassionate.” [Exodus 22:26]

Seems like we’ve gotten away from our ancestral background. I wonder when and why?

Paul is reminding the Thessalonians how the gospel message is to be passed from one person to another, one group to another, one generation to another. It is really handed on by the example of one’s lifestyle. The example Paul and his missionary have made leaves such an impression on the Thessalonians that they share the life and love of Jesus readily, and His gospel message spreads throughout Macedonian and Achaia, which are Roman provinces in the eastern part of Greece. There is no need for Paul to boast about them to others — living love is what’s important.

It’s important to know the conflict that Jesus, a Jew Himself, has with the Jewish ruling and religious authorities. Jesus has just succeeded in silencing the Sadducees, the priestly and aristocratic group that sympathizes with Roman occupation. Today’s antagonist is from the Pharisees, a lay group that exerts significant influence among the people because of its knowledge and piety. He’s a lawyer, an expert in the law, asking what the greatest law is. His question is of interest to the rabbis, among whom there is little agreement on an answer. Here the lawyer poses the question to “test” Jesus. By this point in history the Law includes 613 commandments, 365 prohibitions (one for each day of the year) and 268 prescriptions (one for each bone in the body). Now all laws are considered binding because they were given by God to Moses, but some are more important than others. So whichever law Jesus names will be challenged by some group or individual. Jesus’ answer is faithful to His own Jewish faith. His response is to love God with all your heart and soul, adding with all your mind. Your allegiance must occupy your entire being and not be simply superficial. Is that the same with us today?

So I reflect on:

• Do I do what God says, or do I bend the words of Scripture to an ideological agenda?
• What about criminals and immigrants? Do I care for them out of my love for God and all God’s creatures? What and where does my love extend, and where does it fail?

Sacred Space 2026 states:

“What speaks to you as you read the word of God? You might consider that this is an invitation for a more intellectually and emotionally intimate relationship with God. You know how to love the Lord your God with your heart. Are you aware of how you love Him with your mind?

“There is no right or wrong way to pray. Sitting down to pray is bringing your body to prayer. Feeling gratitude to God for the lights and sounds of nature, even if you don’t express this in words, is bringing your body, mind, and spirit to prayer.”