The Holy Gospel According to Mark (12:28-34).
One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus replied, “The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, He is One and there is no other than he. And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding, he said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Reflection: At the time of Jesus, there were more than 600 Mosaic commandments. In today’s Gospel, we hear how one of the scribes asked Jesus a legitimate question. The scribe had good intentions, was seeking the truth and wanted to know which of all these commandments was the first, or greatest. Jesus responded by quoting the ‘Shema Israel’ which is a prayer that Jesus knew. This prayer from the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Israel’s great confession of faith. Then Jesus adds the second great commandment of loving your neighbor as yourself. The 10 commandments and all the Jewish law is based on these two commandments. The Shema Israel prayer is the centerpiece of prayer services of the Jewish faith and recited by faithful Jews several times during the day.
Jesus reveals the heart of our faith, which is love. Love for God and love for others. These commandments are inseparable. If we truly love God, that love must flow into how we treat others. Love is the commitment to seek the good of others. As Catholic Christians, we are called to love God, to love ourselves and each other as given life by God. If we obey these 2 commandments, we will not have to worry about all the other “thou shalt not” commandments.
Protestant theologian John Wesley provided a wonderful description of how one might obey these great commandments: ‘Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.’
Action for the Day: At the beginning of Lent, we were given the 3 pillars of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Lent is almost half over. Maybe this is a good time to take inventory of our lives. Consider how our love for ourselves and our love for our neighbor might be brought into a better practice through our prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
Audio Reflection:
Thank you. God bless.