The Most Important Question

30^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

October 26, 2014

Mathew 22:34-40

“Teacher, what is the most important commandment in the Law?”

Father Nicanor Austriaco, OP, a chaplain in one of the hospitals in New York City, was once asked by a dying atheist whether he has spent his life worthily. The chaplain then asked him in return, “Have you made someone felt that his or her life is appreciated, meaningful and loved?” The dying one paused for a time and nodded with a little smile. Father Austriaco smiled, aware that he has prepared him for a peaceful death.

This dying man’s question is one of the most fundamental questions that will surely come to each one of us.  The question proves to be the most difficult to answer, because it is only answerable by our own lives, how we live our lives. The response can either be devastating regret or profound joy and fulfillment. The question emerges to be the most important question ever asked, and this echoes the question of the Pharisees to Jesus in today’s Gospel, “Teacher, what is the most important commandment in the Law?”

For the Jewish people, even up to this day, the Law of Moses or the Torah holds as the soul that governs their lives (Ten Commandments stands among the brightest of 600 more laws in Torah). It is the covenant that binds them together as the People of God, the chosen race. It is the warranty that God really takes care of them. Thus, they hold the Law as very dear and precious, something that has to be guarded through generations, and defended even by their own lives. As Moses commanded the Israelites, “Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest. (Deu 6:6-7).”

As a Jew, Jesus knew this very well, but when he was facing the question, he took the opportunity to reveal the fundamental truth of Torah, the most basic in the lives of every Israel and indeed the core of our own lives. The Pharisees were renowned for their knowledge and strict adherence to the Law, yet the great danger is that they lost sight of the most essential as they busied themselves in meticulous details. The question is not so much about how many commandments they have fulfilled, but how deep they have loved and how their love has affected other people. St. Paul aptly and unforgettably reminded the important of this love to the Corinthians, “If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing (1 Cor 13:3).”

Like the Pharisees, we might be too much concerned with our daily grind, and yet forgetting the most basic in our lives. We spend hours in our workplaces, yet have a little quality time with our spouse or children. We are too busy in the ministries, forgetting that intimate moment with God as the source and end of all our ministries. No matter who we are, parents, spouse, priests, religious sisters, workers, students, young people, if we want to be happy, the question remains the same: “How deep we have loved?”

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP