30th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A - If Love Is Missing, What Is Left & “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”

If someone asked us to sum up the Christian life in just a few words, what would we say?

We might speak about prayer, the commandments, going to Mass, helping the poor, or trying to live a good life. All these things matter. But in this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus brings everything back to one essential word: Love.

When a scholar of the law asks Jesus which commandment is the greatest, Jesus responds without hesitation: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Then He adds a second commandment, inseparable from the first: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” Everything else, Jesus tells us, depends on these two commandments.

It is a simple answer, but living it is not always so simple!

Loving God can feel natural when life is going well, when our prayers are answered, and when we feel His presence. But what happens when life becomes difficult, when prayers seem unanswered, or when God feels distant? To love God with our whole heart is to remain faithful even when we do not understand everything. It is to trust Him not only in moments of joy, but also in seasons of uncertainty, disappointment, and pain.

Then there is the challenge of loving our neighbour!

It is relatively easy to love the people who love us, who agree with us, and who make our lives easier. The real test comes when we encounter someone who irritates us, disagrees with us, disappoints us, or has hurt us. Sometimes, the person most in need of our kindness is the very person we find hardest to love.

Jesus does not ask us to pretend that every relationship is easy or that every hurt can be forgotten overnight. Rather, He invites us to refuse to let resentment, indifference, or pride have the final word. Love may mean offering forgiveness, listening patiently, speaking gently, helping someone in need, or simply choosing not to make another person's burden heavier.

The first reading from Exodus reinforces this message by reminding God's people to care for the stranger, the vulnerable, and the poor. God is deeply concerned with how we treat those who have little power to repay our kindness. Our love for Him becomes visible in the compassion we show to others, especially those whom the world overlooks.

Perhaps this is where the Gospel becomes most personal. We can pray beautiful prayers, know our faith well, and observe religious practices faithfully. Yet Jesus asks us to look beyond appearances and examine our hearts:

• Are we becoming more patient, more generous, more forgiving?

• Does our faith make us more compassionate?

• Are people better able to recognize God's goodness because of the way we treat them?

We do not have to accomplish extraordinary things to live the greatest commandment. Sometimes holiness begins with a kind word, an unexpected act of generosity, a sincere apology, or a willingness to stand beside someone who feels forgotten. These may seem like small gestures, but love is often revealed most clearly in the ordinary moments of everyday life.

As we reflect on this Sunday's Gospel, let us remember that love is not simply one part of our faith; love is the very heart of it. Our love for God and our love for our neighbour are not competing obligations. They belong together. The more deeply we love God, the more we should learn to recognize His image in others.

Perhaps this is the most important question we can ask ourselves this week: “Is my love making a difference?” For in the end, when all our accomplishments have faded and all our words have fallen silent, what will matter most is how faithfully we have loved God and how generously we have loved one another.

Where love is present, faith comes alive.
Where love is missing, something essential is lost.

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In honor of the Gospel reading, we would like to share our latest video. “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” brings together Charles Wesley’s hymn text and the Welsh tune HYFRYDOL by Rowland Hugh Prichard.

On this Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jesus teaches that the greatest commandments are to love God with our whole heart, soul, and mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves; the first reading gives that love practical expression through care for strangers, widows, orphans, and those in need.

Video can be watched by clicking here or by clicking on the thumbnail below.