Reflection for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time…October 25, 2020

By Rita Melgares, Notre Dame Associate

Matthew 22:34-40

34 But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

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Every year, at the state fair, this one farmer earned the winning prize for his corn. One year, a reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew his corn. The farmer told the reporter that he shared his prize-winning seed corn with his neighbors.

Confused, the reporter asked why. The farmer explained, “The wind picks up the pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If the neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn.”

The same is true for us – the way we live our lives. If we wish to live in love, peace and harmony, we must help our neighbors to do the same.

Like a prism divides light into a rainbow of colors, we humans express God in infinite ways.

I am a living, loving expression of God, right here . . . right now.