Deuteronomy 6.2-6/ Psalm 18.3, 23+25, 47+50/ Hebrews 7.23-28/ Mark 12.28b-34
We are not unfamiliar with the Ten Commandments instructed to the people of Israel through Moses we can find in Old Testament reading (cf. Exodus 20.1-17, Deuteronomy 5.6-21). At the same time we are not unfamiliar with the teachings of Jesus about the greatest commandments from which we somehow commonly understand as the gist of all Ten Commandments now instructed to the people of our time. This is what we will learn on the later part of our liturgy of the Word that loving God truly naturally leads us all to loving others truly and thus will continue to keep us following His commandments.
One of the scribes asked Jesus as to which is the first of all the commandments. Jesus replied that the first is to 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 to love our neighbor as ourselves. And there is no other commandment greater than these.
Jesus, seeing how the scribe affirmed His (Jesus`) teachings on the greatest commandments with understanding, tells the same scribe “You are not far from the Kingdom of God. These final words of Jesus to the scribe can be a very interesting point of departure/ starting point for our reflection today. It must be very interesting also to know how the scribe in our gospel has lived-up his understanding about the greatest commandments from then on.
Loving God in which we are called to prove by loving our neighbors just as we take good care of ourselves is the thing and core of Christian living. May God`s love for each one of us bring us to understand more deeply the teachings of Jesus about loving others. In times when we feel it`s tiring to love others, it may not be too bad to take a break for a while but never stop praying to bring back our hearts for others. Praying for each other can lead us to becoming worthy too to be told not far from the Kingdom of God. Let us understand further however the way of Jesus…