Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Massimo Palombella
In today’s Gospel (Mt 22:34-40) Jesus connects three great dimensions of our life: love of God, love of neighbour and love of self.
In fact, if the God whom we say we love, to whom we entrust ourselves, does not slowly lead us to the truth about ourselves, to make concrete choices in relation to what is really ‘good’ – and consequently to a true love for those around us – perhaps this God does not exist, is an illusion, is a kind of ‘anaesthetic’ for not living in reality.
To love oneself, in the line indicated by Jesus, is a slow journey that leads us to the truth about ourselves, to accept ourselves, to transform our weaknesses into resources, to be able to forgive, to dissolve inner attitudes that have the sole purpose of keeping us away from reality, silently forcing us to have fear as the sole criterion for our choices. And the more we become capable of being with our fears (of failing, of what others think, of having problems, of being alone, of our image…), the more we enable ourselves to really love our children, my husband, my wife, the people entrusted to us… Our neighbour.
In the inner, spiritual life, as in the professional one, if we are not ‘exaggerated’ we are immediately mediocre. There is then a ‘virtuous circle’ between God, myself and my neighbour, a strong and winning intercommunication that we are often tempted to interrupt because ‘reality’ is painful, touches our fears, puts us in a corner… We then prefer, in order not to feel bad, to take the path of ‘goodness’, of the superficial ‘let us love one another’, of ‘having good relations with everyone’, of ‘not exaggerating’… To the detriment of truth, of true growth, of real and proper educational processes, of basic ethical principles, of professional quality, of the true quality of our lives.
The Offertory antiphon of today’s celebration is taken from Psalm 118 (Ps 118:107,125) with the following text:
“Domine vivifica me secundum eloquium tuum:
ut faciam testimonia tua.”
(O Lord, grant me life according to your word,
so that I may learn your commandments).
The attached music, in Gregorian Chant, is taken from the Graduale Triplex published in Solesmes in 1979. The interpretation can be found on YouTube where there are no indications.
A blessed Sunday and heartfelt greetings.
