The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today set the standard for our love of God and neighbour as with mercy and compassion and without limit or restriction.
Reading from the Book of Exodus exhorts justice and mercy in our relationships.
f. [22:20–23] Ex 23:9; Lv 19:33–34; Dt 10:18–19; 24:17–18; 27:19; Zec 7:10.
g. [22:24] Lv 25:35–38; Dt 23:19–20; 24:10–13; Ez 18:7–8, 17–18.
h. [22:25–26] Dt 24:10–13; Jb 22:6; Prv 20:16; 27:13; Am 2:8. (Exodus, CHAPTER 22 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 18 presents a short hymnic introduction to God’s rescue of the Israelite king.
* [Psalm 18] A royal thanksgiving for a military victory, duplicated in 2 Sm 22. Thanksgiving Psalms are in essence reports of divine rescue. The Psalm has two parallel reports of rescue, the first told from a heavenly perspective (Ps 18:5–20), and the second from an earthly perspective (Ps 18:36–46). The first report adapts old mythic language of a cosmic battle between sea and rainstorm in order to depict God’s rescue of the Israelite king from his enemies. Each report has a short hymnic introduction (Ps 18:2–4, 32–36) and conclusion (Ps 18:21–31, 47–50). (Psalms, PSALM 18 | USCCB, n.d.)
The Reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians is a Thanksgiving for Their Faith.
* [1:6] Imitators: the Pauline theme of “imitation” (see 1 Thes 2:14; 1 Cor 4:16; 11:1; 2 Thes 3:9) is rooted in Paul’s view of solidarity in Christ through sharing in Jesus’ cross and in the Spirit of the risen Lord. (1 Thessalonians, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)
The Gospel of Matthew presents Jesus' proclamation of the Law of Love.
* [22:34–40] The Marcan parallel (Mk 12:28–34) is an exchange between Jesus and a scribe who is impressed by the way in which Jesus has conducted himself in the previous controversy (Mk 12:28), who compliments him for the answer he gives him (Mk 12:32), and who is said by Jesus to be “not far from the kingdom of God” (Mk 12:34). Matthew has sharpened that scene. The questioner, as the representative of other Pharisees, tests Jesus by his question (Mt 22:34–35), and both his reaction to Jesus’ reply and Jesus’ commendation of him are lacking.
* [22:35] [A scholar of the law]: meaning “scribe.” Although this reading is supported by the vast majority of textual witnesses, it is the only time that the Greek word so translated occurs in Matthew. It is relatively frequent in Luke, and there is reason to think that it may have been added here by a copyist since it occurs in the Lucan parallel (Lk 10:25–28). Tested: see note on Mt 19:3.
* [22:36] For the devout Jew all the commandments were to be kept with equal care, but there is evidence of preoccupation in Jewish sources with the question put to Jesus.
* [22:37–38] Cf. Dt 6:5. Matthew omits the first part of Mark’s fuller quotation (Mk 12:29; Dt 6:4–5), probably because he considered its monotheistic emphasis needless for his church. The love of God must engage the total person (heart, soul, mind).
* [22:39] Jesus goes beyond the extent of the question put to him and joins to the greatest and the first commandment a second, that of love of neighbor, Lv 19:18; see note on Mt 19:18–19. This combination of the two commandments may already have been made in Judaism.
* [22:40] The double commandment is the source from which the whole law and the prophets are derived.
Rev. Kent Beausoleil, SJ, reflects on a Lutheran confirmation service and a sentence in the Pastor’s sermon that day stayed with him. In his sermon, the pastor spoke of how we are all loved sinners.
Yet, sadly, I don’t know about you, but I am not sure this is the world that God wishes or envisions for our souls. This is not God’s wish for how we are to relate with one another, we are not too good at loving ourselves and loving our neighbor, the call for saints who love with the love of Jesus Christ is needed today more than ever. The world’s heart still beats with injustice, hatred, and so much violence and other hating. Look at a newspaper to prove me wrong. Saints have a past, and sinners have a future with Christ.
Our liturgy of the word today makes no bones about it – we are called to, and this from the very mouth of Jesus, love our neighbors as ourselves. In our gospel, Jesus incarnates the love of God in a literal and very real way, and integrates this love with the call to love in ‘deeds’ our neighbor, all of our neighbors, everyone. For even saints have a past, and sinners, each one of us, well, with Christ we have a future filled with hope and holy transformation. (Beausoleil, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes “Loving God with heart, mind, and soul,” by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD).
"Worthy is he, confirmed in all his gifts, who exults in the wisdom of God, having a heart full of the love of God, and a soul completely enlightened by the lamp of knowledge and a mind filled with the word of God. It follows then that all such gifts truly come from God. He would understand that all the law and the prophets are in some way a part of the wisdom and knowledge of God. He would understand that all the law and the prophets depend upon and adhere to the principle of the love of the Lord God and of neighbor and that the perfection of piety consists in love." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 13) (Schwager, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the texts for today that in Exodus the commandments are not only vertical, our relationship to God, but horizontal and we take care of the helpless. The Israelites are advised to remember their slavery and use kindness in lending money. For example, don't take the cloak of people as collateral and take care of the needs of people. Live with more than justice but with compassion. In writing to the Thessalonians, we understand they heard Paul and decided to follow the true God. Pauline exaggeration appears in reference to the ends of the earth. They turned from false gods and are waiting for Jesus but need a possible correction in their self sufficiency and arrogance. Paul is reminding them of the Grace of God. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus responds to questions about the greatest commandment. Friar Jude explains the Shema with which Jesus' response resonates. Loving with heart, soul, and mind in Jesus time called for love with our intellect, in times of persecution, and with our material goods. Hillel, the preeminent sage of first century Palestine, taught the whole law was included in “love God and Neighbour”. Friar Jude refers to this as the vertical and horizontal dimension of our love.
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 22:34-40 comments that we can all point to times when we have overlooked opportunities to love, even when they are staring us in the face. But why would that be?
Part of the reason may be that we have a narrow definition of Jesus’ command to love. We might tend to reduce loving God to attending Mass or getting our prayer time in—walled-off situations that are limited in time and not very demanding.
As for loving our neighbor, we can fall into the trap of deciding for ourselves who our “neighbor” is. Maybe he’s our husband but not the coworker who rubs us the wrong way. Maybe she’s our sister but not the in-law who is always offering her advice, whether we want it or not.
Jesus came to expose the indifference that lies at the heart of our failures to love. But he didn’t stop there. He also overcame it as only he could: by pouring himself out in love for us. May we take up his example and pour ourselves out as well.
“Jesus, teach me to love all my neighbors.” (Meditation on Matthew 22:34-40, 2026)
Father Richard Rohr, OFM, considers Jesus’s response to the question, “Which is the first of all the commandments?”
It’s so simple that we can see why we put all our attention on the Ten Commandments, or the hundreds of other regulations culture and religion place on us. It’s much easier to worry about things that keep us “pure,” so to speak, but are of little consequence.
I think the scribe is asking a very good question. After all is said and done, it comes down to loving God and loving our neighbor—and that implies loving ourselves. If I said this without quoting Jesus, I could be accused of oversimplifying or ignoring some of the important commandments. Thank God, Jesus said it first. He taught that it’s all about love. In the end, that’s all we’re all going to be judged for. Did we love? Did we love life? Did we love ourselves? Did we love God? Did we love our neighbor? Concentrating on love takes just about our whole lifetime, so we won’t have much time left over to worry about what other people are doing or not doing. Our job is to love God, love ourselves, and love our neighbor. (Rohr, n.d.)
We implore guidance from the Spirit when we are faced with an apparent conflict between the Law and Love in our daily encounter with people along the Way.
References
Beausoleil, K. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved October 25, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-october-25-2026
Exodus, CHAPTER 22 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved October 25, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/exodus/22?20
Matthew, CHAPTER 22 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved October 25, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/22?34
Meditation on Matthew 22:34-40. (2026, October 25). The Word Among Us. Retrieved October 25, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/10/25/1701393/
1 Thessalonians, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 25, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1thessalonians/1?
Psalms, PSALM 18 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 25, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/18?
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Loving God, Self, and Others. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved October 25, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/loving-god-self-and-others/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). What Is the Greatest Rule of Life? Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved October 25, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/
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