REFLECTION

Gospel

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.

Mark 12: 28-34

Reflection

Today’s readings are all about a loving God. And that’s the basis of everything. The Old Testament reading enjoins us to love God with our whole being and to keep his commandments. The Psalm tells us that we can depend on God. He is our rock and our salvation. If we love God, everything else will fall into place. If we have faith in God and follow his words, we will have a good life here, and salvation after that.

And then Jesus fulfills that. The reading from Hebrews tells us that previous priests would die, as people do, and so could not continue in the priesthood and help the people. But Jesus is a priest forever, and has made the ultimate sacrifice. So he does not have to sacrifice day to day, but can be our priest and our guide forever.

Then in the Gospel we get the fulfillment. In Hebrews we are encouraged to love God and keep his commandments. Jesus is asked which commandments are the most important. He says the first thing is to love God completely. This is old news, but it’s important to keep hearing it. We’re told throughout the scriptures that loving God is the most important thing to do, and it’s reiterated again and again. Jesus reminds us here that it’s the first commandment and the most important. And what’s the second? To love our neighbor like we love ourselves. Now here’s the question: Who’s our neighbor? Actually everyone. Everyone is made in God’s image. Everyone should love God (like God loves everyone) and everyone should love each other.  If that happens, everything else will fall into place. If everyone loved God and everyone else, there would be no need for any further commandments. You don’t steal from people you love. You don’t cheat on people you love. You don’t kill people you love. You love them. If we love God, and if we love all God’s people in the image of God, we don’t need anything else.