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Paroisse Ste. Élisabeth
25 October 2026
30^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Père Réjean Champagne.

You will love!

« In the Law, what is the greatest commandment? »

 The question merits being asked because in the Book of the Law there are 613 laws. These were added progressively in order to respond to different contexts. In all civilizations, laws were created in order to protect the weak. What is new here is the foundation of this Law: it concerns a People who have had two experiences of slavery in Egypt, and their liberation by God. The Lord is revealed as He who hears the complaint of the humiliated and who gives them their liberty and their dignity. Using the Law, God continues to take up the defense of the humiliated.

All the Biblical Laws are noted for « the things they recall »: remembering the suffering that was endured when they were slaves in Egypt, recalling that God is the liberator of His People. If God liberated His People, it is because He heard the cry of the unhappy. He is concerned by human suffering. For the time being, threats were still needed so that the Law would be respected: “if you upset them and they call to Me, I will hear their cry. My anger will be inflamed. However, the man educated by God and by the Law will have no further need of a threat, because he will have learned to see a brother or sister in each person.”

In the second reading, Paul shows clearly what the love of God is. He encourages the Thessalonians to answer with dignity to this love, which is in Him. They are all called to become, for those around them, models of faith and love. They have just been freed from the foreign idols! They are now invited to turn themselves towards the true God and to work actively for the coming of His Kingdom. This is important for us today. We live in a difficult world: Christians are criticized, seen with derision or persecuted. It is a test of the true faith: we cannot escape it; it comes without having sought it! This is the logic of the Gospel which is always true.

In the Gospel, we hear Jesus answering the question from the Pharisees: “What is the Great Commandment?” If they are asking Jesus, it is not to deepen the teaching of the law, but rather to try to trap Him:  Every day, they have seen Him doing works of mercy; He was very close to those suffering from life: the sick, the excluded, and the untouchables. He healed them on the Sabbath Day. They reproached Him for doing this to the detriment of the Law of God.

In His response, Jesus recalls what is written in the Book of Deuteronomy: “You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and all your spirit. “ (verses 37-38)  He could have stopped there, but He adds something that had not been asked by the Doctor of the Law: “The second Commandment is similar to the First. “You will love your neighbor as yourself.” We cannot love God without loving the next person. And we cannot love the next person and not love God.

To live this Gospel, we must turn towards Christ. What He asks of us, He has lived to the end. On the evening of Holy Thursday, He said: “As I have loved you, so you must love each other.” It is not simply a written law; it is a law to be lived by persons who give themselves. Christ continued to breathe the Holy Spirit into His believers to enliven their thoughts, their words and their actions.  He identifies himself as our neighbour, He calls us to recognise Him in our neighbour. “What you have done to the least of these, you have done for me.”

It is by our love for the weak and the excluded that we will be judged. And through them, it is Christ who is there! He reminds us all to love God all day and in every circumstance. And at the same time, He calls us to love every day our brothers and sisters, far and near. Thus our charity must be active and generous. Solidarity groups are there to help us to make our generosity effective. The Lord is there to accompany us and show us the road.

Through Communion, it is Jesus who comes to us. He comes to us to love our Father and all our brothers and sisters on Earth. We give Him thanks: Blessed are you,  O Lord for this love. You send us the radiance around us. Keep us faithful in this mission, that it be the path of all our lives. Amen

Translation by Hugh Gwyn