My dear friends, welcome to this homily for the 30th Sunday in ordinary time where our Heavenly Father asks us to reflect on whether or not we truly love, him by reflecting on how we treat others, if we are truly loving our neighbor. And so in the first reading God commands Israel to protect foreigners, widows, orphans, and the poor, reminding them of their own suffering in Egypt, because how often do we overlook the way we are treating those who are less fortunate than ourselves? He warns that he hears the cries of those who are struggling and those who are oppressed. In fact, his very words are, “If he cries out to me, I will hear him, for I am compassionate” (Exodus 22:26). And so the Lord wants us to imitate his compassion, because God's compassion must become the measure of our own behavior. Israel was commanded to remember its experience of vulnerability and extend the mercy that it received from God to others. We can't claim to honor a compassionate god while we ourselves remain indifferent to the suffering of our neighbor.