Let the hearts of those who seek God rejoice. Yes, seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face without ceasing (Ps 104,3s).

Love for God and neighbor is the center of the Christian life. The Lord, our strength and salvation, unites us around Christ, an expression of his merciful love for all.

First Reading: Exodus 22,20-26

Reading from the book of Exodus – Thus says the Lord: 20Do not oppress or mistreat a foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. 21Do not harm the widow or the orphan. 22If you mistreat them, they will cry out to me and I will hear their cry. 23My anger will then flare up, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will be widows, and your children will be orphans. 24If you lend money to one of my people, to a poor person who lives next to you, do not be a usurer, charging him interest. 25If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, you must return it before sunset. 26For it is the only clothing he has for his body, and the covering he has to sleep on. If you cry to me, I will hear you, because I am merciful. - Word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm: 17(18)

I love you, O Lord, you are my strength and salvation.

1. I love you, O Lord! You are my strength, / my rock, my refuge and savior! / O my God, you are the rock that shelters me, / my strength and powerful salvation. – R.

2. O my God, you are the rock that shelters me, / you are my shield and protection: in you I hope! / I will call on my Lord: to him be the glory! / And from my persecutors I will be saved! – R.

3. Long live the Lord! Blessed be my rock! / And praise be to God, my savior! / You grant your king great victories / and you show mercy to your anointed. – R.

Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10

Reading of the first letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians – Brothers, 5you know how we behaved among you, for your good. 6And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, accepting the Word with the joy of the Holy Spirit, despite so many tribulations. 7In this way you became an example for all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8Indeed, from you, the Word of the Lord did not spread only in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God spread everywhere. Thus, we no longer need to speak, 9for the people themselves tell how you welcomed us and how you converted, abandoning false gods to serve the living and true God, 10waiting for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead: Jesus, who frees us from the punishment that is to come. - Word of the Lord.

Gospel: Matthew 22,34-40

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.

If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, / and my Father will love him, and we will come to him (John 14:23). – R.

Proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Matthew – At that time, 34the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees. So they gathered together in a group 35 and one of them asked Jesus, to test him: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37Jesus replied, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind!’ 38This is the greatest and first commandment. 39The second is similar to this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.” – Word of salvation.

Reflection:

Jesus unifies and places the two commandments on the same level: loving God and loving others. The unity of the precept is inseparable. On other occasions, Jesus teaches that love for God involves love for others: “Whoever welcomes you is welcoming me. And whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me” (Mt 10:40). And in the final judgment scene, Jesus will reaffirm that love for God is demonstrated by practical acts: feeding the poor, clothing the naked, welcoming the homeless (cf. Mt 25:31ff). Love for God does not exclude love for human beings. And serving human beings is serving God. Jesus teaches us how to love God and our neighbors. In everything he carried out the will of the Father, and “having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1), that is, to the last consequences.