Homily for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN
Sunday, October 25, 2026
Today’s Gospel places us on very holy ground. Jesus, the Word of God himself, tells us what lies at the heart of the law and religion. The Pharisees ask a question, almost like a game: “Which commandment in the law is the greatest?” The rabbis often sought the “canon within the canon”—the law that somehow clarified the whole of the law. Jesus gives his well-known reply: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
In the end, it’s about love. The love of God and neighbor are tightly connected. If we follow the law without loving, we’re wasting our time. If we love God but hate our neighbors, we’re wasting our time.
But what does it really mean to love God? Saint Bernard of Clairvaux described three kinds of love:
1. The love between a slave and a master: Here, a servant loves and obeys the master out of fear of punishment. This is the lowest form of love: loving God out of fear of being punished in hell. If the fear of hell can inspire “metanoia” in us, that's okay—but we must not settle for it.
2. The love between a student and a professor: In this case, the student loves the professor because he wants something from him—knowledge, intelligence, and probably a favorable score. Do some people love God for what He can give them? Yes! They love God because they want Him to bless them materially. This kind of love is higher than the love between a servant and a master, but it is not the highest form of love. We must love God whether He blesses us or not.
3. The love between a husband and wife: in this kind of love, each spouse loves the other for who they are. The husband looks at his wife and says, “I love you because of you,” and she looks at him and says, “I love you because of you.” They do not love each other out of fear or for material benefit, but for the sake of the other. This is the highest form of love. Love the Lord not out of fear or for what we might gain from him, but because he is God. He deserves all honor, glory, adoration, worship, and devotion. According to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, the goal of the spiritual life is to love God alone, for the sake of God alone.
God bless you!
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