Exodus 22:20-26 / 1 Thess 1:5-10 / Matthew 22:34-40
There was a piece of news during this week that may not have caught our attention, but it may be of concern to our children.
It's about the schools. A total of 52 schools will get new principals next year.
A new principal would probably mean that the school will embark on a new vision, a new mission and maybe a new direction.
But whatever new things that may happen in a school that has a new principal, the fundamentals won't be changed that much.
Because the fundamental purpose of a school is to provide education for its students.
And the task of the principal is to ensure that the teachers will teach the students well.
It is said that the best teachers are those who show the students where to look, but won't tell them what to see.
In other words, a good teacher will let the students discover what they need to learn.
But there are times when what the student discovers and learns may need some realignment.
A Sunday school teacher was teaching her class about the 10 Commandments in preparation for their First Confession (8 year-olds)
After explaining the Commandment to "honour thy father and mother" she asked the class, " Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?"
Immediately one boy puts up his hand and answered, "Thou shall not kill." : 0
If we had grown up with siblings, we probably would have agreed with that boy.
And we may have to admit that some people are such a pain for us that we would have done something drastic if not for that commandment.
In the gospel, we heard that the Pharisees asked Jesus about which is the greatest commandment of the Law.
The Pharisees were such a pain for Jesus. As if they don't know what is the greatest commandment of the Law.
But they asked that question not so much for discussion but rather to disconcert Jesus.
To disconcert is to upset or to frustrate or to ruffle or irritate someone. It's certainly not a nice thing to do to someone.
And Jesus could have given those Pharisees a piece of His mind just to shut them up, just as He had silenced the Sadducees earlier.
But being a good teacher, Jesus showed them where to look , and He left it to them to see whatever they want to see or whatever they have to see.
The first and greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
And then it is followed by this: You must love your neighbour as yourself.
So to love God is to see God in your neighbour and that would also mean to see yourself in your neighbour.
Jesus told the Pharisees where to look, but what they want to see is for them to choose and decide.
So we are also told where to look. And what do we see?
As for Jesus, He saw that it would be more loving to give those Pharisees a bit of His heart than to give them a piece of His mind.
We too would be happier when we give people a bit of our heart rather than a piece of our mind.
But when we look at the people around us, those at home, those at work, those in Church, it would be easier to give them a piece of our mind than a bit of our heart.
And here lies the lesson of life - Nothing and no one ever goes away until they teach us what we need to know.
God doesn't give us the people we want. He gives us the people we need - people who will hurt us, people who will leave us, but also people who will help us and people who will love us, so as to make us into the persons we were meant to be.
When we can see that, then we would have understood the lesson of life.
And with that, we will be able to love God and love our neighbour as ourselves.