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Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

October 25, 2026

Fr. John Colacino C.PP.S.

Introit

Collect

Almighty ever-living God,
increase our faith, hope and charity,
and make us love what you command,
so that we may merit what you promise.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Reading Ex 22:20-26

The Lord said to Moses: “Thus shall you say to the Israelites, these are the ordinances that you shall set before them. 21 “You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. 22 You shall not abuse any widow or orphan. 23 If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry; 24 my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children orphans. 25 “If you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, you shall not deal with them as a creditor; you shall not exact interest from them. 26 If you take your neighbour’s cloak in pawn, you shall restore it before the sun goes down; 27 for it may be your neighbour’s only clothing to use as cover; in what else shall that person sleep? And if your neighbour cries out to me, I will listen, for I am compassionate.”

Responsorial Psalm Ps 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51

R/. I love you, Lord, my strength.

Second Reading Thess 1:5c-10 2

You know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. 9 For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead— Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.

Alleluia Jn. 14:23

Gospel Mt. 22:34-40

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 “And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Catena Nova

What else is there to speak of apart from love? … Open the Bible at any page and you will find it extolling love....People are renewed by love. As sinful desire ages them, so love rejuvenates them…. For as love grows stronger we feel more secure, and when our feeling of security is complete fear vanishes, since, as the apostle John declares: “Perfect love casts out fear” (St. Augustine).

All who love God in the depths of their heart have already been loved by God. In fact, the measure of people’s love for God depends upon how deeply aware they are of God’s love for them. When this awareness is keen it makes whoever possesses it long to be enlightened by the divine light, and this longing is so intense that it seems to penetrate their very bones…. Once the love of God has released them from self-love, the flame of divine love never ceases to burn in their heart and they remain united to God by an irresistible longing. (St. Diadochus of Photice).

Love seeks no cause beyond itself and no fruit; it is its own fruit, its own enjoyment. I love because I love; I love in order that I may love.... Of all the motions and affections of the soul, love is the only one by means of which the creature, though not on equal terms, is able to treat with the Creator and to give back something resembling what has been given to it. What God loves, he only desires to be loved, knowing that love will render all those who love Him happy. (Bernard of Clairvaux)

Do you know how you can tell when your spiritual love is not perfect? If you are distressed when it seems that those you love are not returning your love or not loving you as much as you think you love them. Or if you are distressed when it seems to you that you are being deprived of their company or comfort, or that they love someone else more than you (St. Catherine of Siena).

What is sweetest in love is her tempestuousness,
Her deepest abyss is her most beautiful form;
To lose one’s way in her is to touch her close at hand.
To die of hunger for her is to feed and taste;…

We can say yet more about Love:
Her wealth is her lack of everything;
Her truest fidelity brings about our fall;
Her highest being drowns us in the depths;…

Her revelation is the total hiding of herself;
Her gifts, besides, are thieveries;
Her promises are all seductions;
Her adornments are all undressing;
Her truth is all deception;
To many her assurance appears to lie—

After she first played these tricks on me,
And I considered all her methods,
I went to work in an entirely different way:
By her threats and her promises
I was no longer deceived.

I will belong to her, whatever she may be,
Gracious or merciless; to me it is all one (St. Hadewijch of Antwerp).

Let everyone understand that real love of God does not consist in tear-shedding, nor in that sweetness and tenderness for which usually we long, just because they console us, but in serving God in justice, fortitude of the soul and humility. (St. Teresa of Avila)

Only my readiness to encounter my neighbour and to show them love makes me sensitive to God as well. Only if I serve my neighbour can my eyes be opened to what God does for me and how much God loves me.... Love of God and love of neighbour are thus inseparable, they form a single commandment. But both live from the love of God who has loved us first. No longer is it a question, then, of a “commandment” imposed from without and calling for the impossible, but rather of a freely-bestowed experience of love from within, a love which by its very nature must then be shared with others. Love grows through love. Love is “divine” because it comes from God and unites us to God; through this unifying process it makes us a “we” which transcends our divisions and makes us one, until in the end God is “all in all” (1 Cor15:28) (Pope Benedict XVI).

Homily

From "ecumenism of hate" to one of "compassion"? Perhaps. In these past few years, some commentators have noted a

a strange form of surprising ecumenism…developing between Evangelical fundamentalists and Catholic Integralists brought together by the same desire for religious influence in the political sphere. Some who profess themselves to be Catholic express themselves in ways that until recently were unknown in their tradition and using tones much closer to Evangelicals. They are defined as value voters as far as attracting electoral mass support is concerned. There is a well-defined world of ecumenical convergence between sectors that are paradoxically competitors when it comes to confessional belonging….an ecumenism of conflict that unites them in the nostalgic dream of a theocratic type of state. ….The word "ecumenism” transforms into a paradox, into an “ecumenism of hate.”

(Marcelo Figueroa, "Evangelical Fundamentalism and Catholic Integralism in the USA: A surprising ecumenism;"(July 13, 2017; https://www.laciviltacattolica.com/evangelical-fundamentalism-and-catholic-integralism-in-the-usa-a-surprising-ecumenism/).

These words appeared in the Jesuit journal La Civilta' Cattolica — whose articles undergo Vatican review and can therefore be assumed to have the tacit approval of the pontiff — Pope Francis, in this case.

But now — at least on one issue — the tide seems to be turning. A joint statement released this month and co-signed by the chair of the Committee on Migration of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the President of the National Association of Evangelicals is entitled Catholics and Evangelicals in this country have been accused in the past of collaborating oA Call for Christian Compassion and Wisdom in the Immigration Debate. It reads in part:

we are united in our conviction that God calls us to stand both with our fellow Americans who are experiencing economic and cultural anxieties and with our immigrant neighbors who are facing existential challenges….Before anyone is an immigrant or native-born person, documented or undocumented, citizen or noncitizen, he or she is a glorious creation of God (Psalm 8:4–8), a precious human being for whom Jesus died (John 3:16), and a neighbor who has a claim on our conscience (Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 22:34–40). This dignity comes from God, not government, and no earthly power may erase it. This conviction guides our approach to all social issues, including the current reality of immigration, which is a matter of human dignity…When the civil law, as enacted and enforced, fails to promote the moral law, all people of good will, and most especially our elected officials, are called to work toward sensible reforms…..We have witnessed within our communities the sowing of fear, the fracturing of families, the deprivation of due process, and the vilification of our neighbors….We do not offer these words in anger or partisanship but in hope, trusting that the God of the exile and the stranger has not abandoned his people.

And isn't nice of the Lectionary to reinforce this with a timely warning:

Thus says the LORD:
"You shall not molest or oppress an alien,
for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.
You shall not wrong any widow or orphan.
If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me,
I will surely hear their cry.
My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword;
then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans. (I)

Now I suppose it's way too much to ask these religious bodies to agree on other moral issues facing the electorate on November 3. Like universal health care, expanding the social safety net, cutting the defense budget, reducing nuclear arms, tackling the environmental crisis, repealing the Second Amendment, eliminating tax cuts for the richest Americans, and putting lobbyists on notice that we no longer want the best politicians money can buy. For white Evangelicals continue their overwhelming support of the party for whom all these things are anathema. Though among all Catholics the administration's approval rating has dropped from 47% when it began to 30% at the moment — something true among other religious groups. Though half of white Catholics will still vote for the party in power's candidate. (Cf. Pew Research Center; October 13, 2026). Which is why I said "perhaps" at the start of this homily.

Now I realize when we have to scale love of God and neighbor up to the level of public policy over and beyond our personal faith and our more immediate relationships such that we vote with an informed conscience, well, things gets trickier. The president of the bishops' conference, for example, said earlier this month:

I would ask all Catholics to put their faith before politics. The Church’s contribution to the public life of a nation is not a political or partisan program; rather, it reflects our commitment to the dignity of every person, who is created in the image and likeness of God.

One of the great dangers of our moment is the belief that any criticism of ‘our party’ somehow strengthens our opponents. A well-formed conscience does not operate on those terms. Therefore, I encourage all to judge candidates and elected officials by their actions, not merely their promises, and how those actions promote the common good. We must reject rhetoric that appeals to fear, resentment, or division, and listen instead, to the Gospel call to love God and all our neighbors. (Archbishop Coakley; October 14, 2016)

Which reminds me of the parishioner who said: “You know, Father, this religion stuff is awfully complicated.” To which the the priest replied: “We really just have to love God and our neighbor.” “That’s what I mean!” came the response.

So we can only hope the results on Election Day will indeed serve the living and true God and Jesus whose return we await from heaven and who alone delivers us from the coming wrath (II). Who lives and reigns, forever and ever. Amen.

Intercessions (Liturgical Press)

For the church, that all followers may be true imitators of the love God modeled in the life of Christ so that they may be a model for all the believers.

For all leaders, that they may be moved by the special care God has for the “widow,” the “orphan,” the “alien,” and all those in need, and thereby come to give special attention to the least well-off as they craft policies and govern God’s people.

For the “poor neighbors among [God’s] people,” that they may know the care and support of God’s faithful people who have been called to love their neighbors as themselves.

For the members of this community of faith gathered today, that we may come to love God ever more deeply and in the process be inspired to love and care for all those whom God loves as well.

For all those who have died, that they may know the kindness shown to the anointed and live forever in God’s protection, for God is our fortress and deliverer.

Your love, O God, is boundless. We who were strangers have been made your children. We who were defenceless have been brought into your household. Keep us mindful of your deeds of mercy, that we may love you with our whole heart and love our neighbour as ourselves. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. (ICEL; 1998)

Offertory Antiphon

Offertory Motet (Peter Nardone)

I give to you a new commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.

Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est. Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor. Exsultemus et in ipso jucundemur. Timeamus et amemus Deum vivum. Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.

[Where charity is true, God is there. The love of Christ has gathered us into one. Let us rejoice and be glad in him. Let us fear and love the living God. And from a sincere heart let us love one another. Amen.]

Communion Antiphon

Closing Hymn

Love one another, for love is of God.
(S)he who loves is born of God;
And knows God.
(S)he who does not love, does not know God,
For God is love, God is love, God is love.

Love bears all things, Believes all things,
Love hopes all things, Endures all things.

God is love, God is love, God is love.
God is love, God is love, God is love.

Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
With all thy soul, all thy strength, All thy mind.
Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
For God is love, God is love, God is love.

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