Readings: Exodus 22:20-26; Psalm 18; 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10; Matthew 22:34-40
Today is the last Sunday in October. As we come to the end of the month, let us recall our Sunday reflections:
-Sunday, 4 October: “The Vineyard with Many Advantages”
– Sunday, 11 October: “The Great Banquet”
– Sunday, 18 October: “Give to God What Belongs to God”
Today, the fourth Sunday of October, we reflect on the theme: “Love Is the Essence.”
THE FIRST READING
Our First Reading contains instructions God gave His people through Moses about how they should treat others, especially foreigners, widows, orphans and the poor (Exodus 22:20-26). These instructions remind us that God expects us to care for the vulnerable and to treat others with respect, love, compassion and justice.
Let us pause and ask ourselves: How do I treat other people?
Am I loving, kind, patient and compassionate?
Do my words and actions reflect the goodness of God?
Some of us may once have been gentle, kind, considerate, harmless, and trusting, but over time, through painful experiences or prolonged exposure to hostility and toxic environment, we may have become suspicious, cruel, aggressive or vengeful. We can lose sight of the person God calls us to be.
The Lord invites us to reflect and embrace a new way of relating to others, a way rooted in love. Our vocation is to love. As Scripture says, “Let us love one another, because love is from God” (1 John 4:7).
THE SECOND READING
In the Second Reading, St. Paul praises the Church in Thessalonica for receiving the Gospel with joy, imitating Christ and the apostles, sharing the Good News, becoming an example to other believers through their love for their ministers and one another (1 Thessalonians 1:5-10).
Dear friends, this is what makes a Church beautiful in the sight of God. It is not merely the beauty of its interior or exterior. What impresses us may not necessarily impress God. The beauty of a Church is seen in the love of God in the hearts of its people, in their love and care for one another, and in the way they live and share the Gospel.
Love is the true beauty of a Church. Love is also the true beauty of a soul.
In one of the apparitions of Our Lady in Medjugorje, the visionaries asked her why she was so beautiful. She replied, “It is the beauty of love.” The more we love, the more beautiful we become in the sight of God.
St. John of the Cross reminds us, “In the evening of life, we will be judged on love.”
It is also through love that our world can be healed of war, hatred, violence, revenge, injustice and the terrible cruelty human beings inflict on one another. Love does not mean allowing evil to continue, it means refusing to be ruled by hatred.
THE GOSPEL
In today’s Gospel, a Pharisee asks Jesus which commandment is the greatest (Matthew 22:34-40). In Matthew’s account, this follows two earlier questions intended to test Jesus: the Pharisees and Herodians questioned Him about paying taxes to Caesar (Matthew 22:15-22), and the Sadducees questioned Him about the resurrection (Matthew 22:23-33).
The question about the greatest commandment was part of a wider debate among Jewish teachers about the commandments of the Law. Jesus answers by bringing together two passages of Scripture. First, He quotes the command to love God with all our heart, soul and mind (Deuteronomy 6:5). Then He adds, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18).
Jesus says that all the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments (Matthew 22:40). Love of God and love of neighbour belong together. We cannot claim to love God while deliberately refusing to love our neighbour (1 John 4:20-21).
Let us pray today for a deeper love of God and the grace to love Him above all things, even above life itself. The more we love God, the more we are transformed and made to resemble Him, for “God is love” (1 John 4:8).
Let us also pray for the grace to love others, especially those we find difficult to love: those who have caused us pain, maligned us or treated us unfairly. May we learn to forgive, while still seeking truth and justice.
May we conquer evil and hatred with love. May no one succeed in turning us into people who hate. May no root of bitterness grow within us (Hebrews 12:15). And may others come to know the love of God through the way we treat them.
Sermon preached by Fr Emmanuel Baraka-Gukena Okami on October 25, 2026.