The Greatest Commandment

MARCH 08, 2024 - FRIDAY
Friday of the Third Week of Lent (Violet)
Lectionary: 241
CYCLE B - YEAR II

Reading 1
Hos 14:2-10

Thus says the LORD:
Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God;
you have collapsed through your guilt.
Take with you words,
and return to the LORD;
Say to him, "Forgive all iniquity,
and receive what is good, that we may render
as offerings the bullocks from our stalls.
Assyria will not save us,
nor shall we have horses to mount;
We shall say no more, 'Our god,'
to the work of our hands;
for in you the orphan finds compassion."
I will heal their defection, says the LORD,
I will love them freely;
for my wrath is turned away from them.
I will be like the dew for Israel:
he shall blossom like the lily;
He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar,
and put forth his shoots.
His splendor shall be like the olive tree
and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar.
Again they shall dwell in his shade
and raise grain;
They shall blossom like the vine,
and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
Ephraim! What more has he to do with idols?
I have humbled him, but I will prosper him.
"I am like a verdant cypress tree"–
Because of me you bear fruit!
Let him who is wise understand these things;
let him who is prudent know them.
Straight are the paths of the LORD,
in them the just walk,
but sinners stumble in them.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 81:6c-8a, 8bc-9, 10-11ab, 14 and 17

R. (see 11 and 9a) I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.

An unfamiliar speech I hear:
"I relieved his shoulder of the burden;
his hands were freed from the basket.
In distress you called, and I rescued you."

R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.

"Unseen, I answered you in thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
Hear, my people, and I will admonish you;
O Israel, will you not hear me?"

R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.

"There shall be no strange god among you
nor shall you worship any alien god.
I, the LORD, am your God
who led you forth from the land of Egypt."

R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.

"If only my people would hear me,
and Israel walk in my ways,
I would feed them with the best of wheat,

and with honey from the rock I would fill them."

R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.

Verse Before the Gospel
Mt 4:17

Repent, says the Lord;
the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Gospel
Mk 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.

REFLECTION:

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love cast out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears does not reach perfection in love. We love because He first loved us."

(1 John 4:18)

I also ask myself, in the presence of Jesus, what it means to love God with all my heart, all my soul and with all my mind and with all my strength. I ask for this single-mindedness, and for seeing all my life embraced in this commitment.

PRAYER: 

Lord, enlarge my heart. Make me more and more sensitive to the quality of your love, especially as Holy Week comes near. There you show me so dramatically how much you love me. Make me a grateful person.

The Greatest Commandment

JUNE 08, 2023 THURSDAY
Thursday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time (Green)
CYCLE A - YEAR I
Lectionary: 356

Reading 1
Tb 6:10-11; 7:1bcde, 9-17; 8:4-9a

When the angel Raphael and Tobiah had entered Media
and were getting close to Ecbatana,
Raphael said to the boy,
"Tobiah, my brother!"
He replied: "Here I am!"
He said: "Tonight we must stay with Raguel, who is a relative of yours.
He has a daughter named Sarah."
So he brought him to the house of Raguel,
whom they found seated by his courtyard gate.
They greeted him first.
He said to them, "Greetings to you too, brothers!
Good health to you, and welcome!"
And he brought them into his home.
Raguel slaughtered a ram from the flock
and gave them a cordial reception.
When they had bathed and reclined to eat, Tobiah said to Raphael,
"Brother Azariah, ask Raguel to let me marry
my kinswoman Sarah."
Raguel overheard the words; so he said to the boy:
"Eat and drink and be merry tonight,
for no man is more entitled
to marry my daughter Sarah than you, brother.
Besides, not even I have the right to give her to anyone but you,
because you are my closest relative.
But I will explain the situation to you very frankly.
I have given her in marriage to seven men,
all of whom were kinsmen of ours,
and all died on the very night they approached her.
But now, son, eat and drink.
I am sure the Lord will look after you both."
Tobiah answered,
"I will eat or drink nothing until you set aside what belongs to me."
Raguel said to him: "I will do it.
She is yours according to the decree of the Book of Moses.
Your marriage to her has been decided in heaven!
Take your kinswoman;
from now on you are her love, and she is your beloved.
She is yours today and ever after.
And tonight, son, may the Lord of heaven prosper you both.
May he grant you mercy and peace."
Then Raguel called his daughter Sarah, and she came to him.
He took her by the hand and gave her to Tobiah with the words:
"Take her according to the law.
According to the decree written in the Book of Moses
she is your wife.
Take her and bring her back safely to your father.
And may the God of heaven grant both of you peace and prosperity."
Raguel then called Sarah's mother and told her to bring a scroll,
so that he might draw up a marriage contract
stating that he gave Sarah to Tobiah as his wife
according to the decree of the Mosaic law.
Her mother brought the scroll,
and Raguel drew up the contract, to which they affixed their seals.
Afterward they began to eat and drink.
Later Raguel called his wife Edna and said,
"My love, prepare the other bedroom and bring the girl there."
She went and made the bed in the room, as she was told,
and brought the girl there.
After she had cried over her, she wiped away the tears and said:
"Be brave, my daughter.
May the Lord grant you joy in place of your grief.
Courage, my daughter."
Then she left.
When the girl's parents left the bedroom
and closed the door behind them,
Tobiah arose from bed and said to his wife,
"My love, get up.
Let us pray and beg our Lord to have mercy on us
and to grant us deliverance."
She got up, and they started to pray
and beg that deliverance might be theirs.
And they began to say:
"Blessed are you, O God of our fathers,
praised be your name forever and ever.
Let the heavens and all your creation
praise you forever.
You made Adam and you gave him his wife Eve
to be his help and support;
and from these two the human race descended.
You said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone;
let us make him a partner like himself.'
Now, Lord, you know that I take this wife of mine
not because of lust,
but for a noble purpose.
Call down your mercy on me and on her,
and allow us to live together to a happy old age."
They said together, "Amen, amen," and went to bed for the night.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5

R. (see 1a) Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
Blessed shall you be, and favored.

R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table.

R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.

R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

Alleluia
See 2 Tm 1:10

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death
and brought life to light through the Gospel.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel
Mk 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.

GOSPEL REFLECTION:

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love cast out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears does not reach perfection in love. We love because He first loved us."

(1 John 4:18)

I also ask myself, in the presence of Jesus, what it means to love God with all my heart, all my soul and with all my mind and with all my strength. I ask for this single-mindedness, and for seeing all my life embraced in this commitment.

PRAYER: 

Lord, enlarge my heart. Make me more and more sensitive to the quality of your love, especially as Holy Week comes near. There you show me so dramatically how much you love me. Make me a grateful person.

The Greatest Commandment

AUGUST 19, 2022, FRIDAY

Friday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time (Green)

CYCLE C - YEAR II

Lectionary: 423

Reading 1

EZ 37:1-14

The hand of the LORD came upon me,

and led me out in the Spirit of the LORD

and set me in the center of the plain,

which was now filled with bones.

He made me walk among the bones in every direction

so that I saw how many they were on the surface of the plain.

How dry they were!

He asked me:

Son of man, can these bones come to life?

I answered, “Lord GOD, you alone know that.”

Then he said to me:

Prophesy over these bones, and say to them:

Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!

Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones:

See! I will bring spirit into you, that you may come to life.

I will put sinews upon you, make flesh grow over you,

cover you with skin, and put spirit in you

so that you may come to life and know that I am the LORD.

I prophesied as I had been told,

and even as I was prophesying I heard a noise;

it was a rattling as the bones came together, bone joining bone.

I saw the sinews and the flesh come upon them,

and the skin cover them, but there was no spirit in them.

Then the LORD said to me:

Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, son of man,

and say to the spirit:  Thus says the Lord GOD

From the four winds come, O spirit,

and breathe into these slain that they may come to life.

I prophesied as he told me, and the spirit came into them;

they came alive and stood upright, a vast army.

Then he said to me:

Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.

They have been saying,

“Our bones are dried up,

our hope is lost, and we are cut off.”

Therefore, prophesy and say to them: Thus says the Lord GOD:

O my people, I will open your graves

and have you rise from them,

and bring you back to the land of Israel.

Then you shall know that I am the LORD,

when I open your graves and have you rise from them,

O my people!

I will put my spirit in you that you may live,

and I will settle you upon your land;

thus you shall know that I am the LORD.

I have promised, and I will do it, says the LORD.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 107:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. (1)  Give thanks to the Lord; his love is everlasting.

Let the redeemed of the LORD say,

those whom he has redeemed from the hand of the foe

And gathered from the lands,

from the east and the west, from the north and the south.

R. Give thanks to the Lord; his love is everlasting.

They went astray in the desert wilderness; 

the way to an inhabited city they did not find.

Hungry and thirsty,

their life was wasting away within them.

R. Give thanks to the Lord; his love is 

everlasting.

They cried to the LORD in their distress;

from their straits he rescued them.

And he led them by a direct way

to reach an inhabited city.

R. Give thanks to the Lord; his love is everlasting.

Let them give thanks to the LORD for his mercy

and his wondrous deeds to the children of men,

Because he satisfied the longing soul

and filled the hungry soul with good things.

R. Give thanks to the Lord; his love is everlasting.

 

 

Alleluia

PS 25:4B, 5A

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Teach me your paths, my God,

guide me in your truth.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

MT 22:34-40

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,

they gathered together, and one of them,

a scholar of the law, tested him by asking,

“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”

He said to him,

“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 the first commandment.

The second is like it:

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

GOSPEL REFLECTION:

The gospel today centres the message of Jesus on love; on two loves united in each of us. Love God, love the neighbour - this is the only commandment of Jesus. Without this, all we say we do for him is really done for ourselves. No detail of religious observance is above this law of love. Jesus said this, and lived it in his life. He never allowed the laws of religion overtake the need for love. The message of Jesus is all-embracing and covers all our relationships, both the close relationships of marriage, family and friendship, as well as the call to love the wider world, particularly where the needs are great.

PRAYER:

Strengthen our relationships each other, O Lord! Help us and teach ourselves to be open-minded in our decisions in life.

The Greatest Commandment

OCTOBER 31, 2021, Sunday
Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time (Green)
CYCLE B - YEAR I
Lectionary: 152

Reading I
Dt 6:2-6

Moses spoke to the people, saying:
"Fear the LORD, your God,
and keep, throughout the days of your lives,
all his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you,
and thus have long life.
Hear then, Israel, and be careful to observe them,
that you may grow and prosper the more,
in keeping with the promise of the LORD, the God of your fathers,
to give you a land flowing with milk and honey.
"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! 
Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God,
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your strength. 
Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today."

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51

R. (2)    I love you, Lord, my strength.

I love you, O LORD, my strength,
    O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.

R. I love you, Lord, my strength.

My God, my rock of refuge,
    my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,
    and I am safe from my enemies.

R. I love you, Lord, my strength.

The LORD lives!  And blessed be my rock!
    Extolled be God my savior.
You who gave great victories to your king
    and showed kindness to your anointed.

R. I love you, Lord, my strength.

Reading II
Heb 7:23-28

Brothers and sisters:
The levitical priests were many
because they were prevented by death from remaining in office,
but Jesus, because he remains forever,
has a priesthood that does not pass away.
Therefore, he is always able to save those who approach God through him, 
since he lives forever to make intercession for them.
It was fitting that we should have such a high priest:
holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners,
higher than the heavens.
He has no need, as did the high priests,
to offer sacrifice day after day,
first for his own sins and then for those of the people;
he did that once for all when he offered himself. 
For the law appoints men subject to weakness to be high priests,
but the word of the oath, which was taken after the law,
appoints a son,
who has been made perfect forever.

Alleluia
Jn 14:23

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord;
and my father will love him and we will come to him.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GOSPEL
Mk 12:28b-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.

REFLECTION:

The word love is one of depth, of relationship, and of great importance in life, but its deeper meaning can be glossed over in superficial expressions. St. John tells us that God is love (I John 4:16), a love that is creative and self-giving, that desires the best for each of us as creatures of God. Thus, we are called to love God, to love each other and to love ourselves as given life by God. We pray for a deeper appreciation of love, for the freedom to accept it more fully and to live it as Jesus did in a self-giving way.

Loving means sharing with the loved one and is shown in action. Words can be hollow unless they are incarnated in life, just as the love of the Father is incarnated in Jesus – God so loved the world (John 3:16). In a hymn we sing of Jesus - ‘love is his word, love is his way.’ His love did cost. Love is often a decision in that we want to respond like Jesus, though we may not feel like it. Lord, we ask you to give us loving hearts that reach out to others in your name, bringing them closer to you.

PRAYER:

Lord, why should I love you with all my heart? Because if a group of good people set up a beautiful house and gardens for me to live in, I would love them. If they worked against all that might hurt me, I would love them. If one of them were to die a horrible death to save me from disaster, I would love them. If they Lord, promised me eternal joy, I would love them.

The Greatest Commandment

August 20, 2021, Friday
Memorial of Saint Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church (White)
CYCLE B - YEAR I
Lectionary: 423

Reading I
Ru 1:1, 3-6, 14b-16, 22

Once in the time of the judges there was a famine in the land;
so a man from Bethlehem of Judah
departed with his wife and two sons
to reside on the plateau of Moab.
Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died,
and she was left with her two sons, who married Moabite women,
one named Orpah, the other Ruth.
When they had lived there about ten years,
both Mahlon and Chilion died also,
and the woman was left with neither her two sons nor her husband.
She then made ready to go back from the plateau of Moab
because word reached her there
that the LORD had visited his people and given them food.
Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye, but Ruth stayed with her.
Naomi said, “See now! 
Your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her god.
Go back after your sister-in-law!”
But Ruth said, “Do not ask me to abandon or forsake you!
For wherever you go, I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge,
your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”
Thus it was that Naomi returned
with the Moabite daughter-in-law, Ruth,
who accompanied her back from the plateau of Moab.
They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

Responsorial Psalm
146:5-6ab, 6c-7, 8-9a, 9bc-10

R.    (1b)  Praise the Lord, my soul!

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the LORD, his God,
Who made heaven and earth,
    the sea and all that is in them.

R.    Praise the Lord, my soul!

The LORD keeps faith forever,
    secures justice for the oppressed,
    gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.

R.    Praise the Lord, my soul!

The LORD gives sight to the blind.
The LORD raises up those who were bowed down;
    The LORD loves the just.
The LORD protects strangers.

R.    Praise the Lord, my soul!

The fatherless and the widow he sustains,
    but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
    your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.

R.    Praise the Lord, my soul!

Alleluia
Ps 25:4b, 5a

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Teach me your paths, my God,
guide me in your truth.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GOSPEL
Mt 22:34-40

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together, and one of them,
a scholar of the law, tested him by asking,
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him,
“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 the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

REFLECTION:

The gospel today centers the message of Jesus on love; on two loves united in each of us. Love God, love the neighbor - this is the only commandment of Jesus. Without this, all we say we do for him is really done for ourselves. No detail of religious observance is above this law of love. Jesus said this, and lived it in his life. He never allowed the laws of religion overtake the need for love. The message of Jesus is all-embracing and covers all our relationships, both the close relationships of marriage, family and friendship, as well as the call to love the wider world, particularly where the needs are great.

PRAYER:

Strengthen our relationships each other, O Lord! Help us and teach ourselves to be open-minded in our decisions in life.

The Greatest Commandment

June 03, 2021, Thursday
Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Red)
CYCLE B - YEAR I
Lectionary: 356

Reading I
Tb 6:10-11; 7:1bcde, 9-17; 8:4-9a

When the angel Raphael and Tobiah had entered Media 
and were getting close to Ecbatana,
Raphael said to the boy,
“Tobiah, my brother!”
He replied: “Here I am!”
He said: “Tonight we must stay with Raguel, who is a relative of yours.
He has a daughter named Sarah.”
So he brought him to the house of Raguel,
whom they found seated by his courtyard gate.
They greeted him first.
He said to them, “Greetings to you too, brothers!
Good health to you, and welcome!”
And he brought them into his home.
Raguel slaughtered a ram from the flock
and gave them a cordial reception.
When they had bathed and reclined to eat, Tobiah said to Raphael,
“Brother Azariah, ask Raguel to let me marry
my kinswoman Sarah.”
Raguel overheard the words; so he said to the boy:
“Eat and drink and be merry tonight,
for no man is more entitled
to marry my daughter Sarah than you, brother.
Besides, not even I have the right to give her to anyone but you,
because you are my closest relative.
But I will explain the situation to you very frankly.
I have given her in marriage to seven men,
all of whom were kinsmen of ours,
and all died on the very night they approached her.
But now, son, eat and drink.
I am sure the Lord will look after you both.”
Tobiah answered,
“I will eat or drink nothing until you set aside what belongs to me.”
Raguel said to him: “I will do it.
She is yours according to the decree of the Book of Moses.
Your marriage to her has been decided in heaven!
Take your kinswoman;
from now on you are her love, and she is your beloved.
She is yours today and ever after.
And tonight, son, may the Lord of heaven prosper you both.
May he grant you mercy and peace.” 
Then Raguel called his daughter Sarah, and she came to him.
He took her by the hand and gave her to Tobiah with the words:
“Take her according to the law.
According to the decree written in the Book of Moses
she is your wife.
Take her and bring her back safely to your father.
And may the God of heaven grant both of you peace and prosperity.”
Raguel then called Sarah’s mother and told her to bring a scroll,
so that he might draw up a marriage contract
stating that he gave Sarah to Tobiah as his wife
according to the decree of the Mosaic law.
Her mother brought the scroll,
and Raguel drew up the contract, to which they affixed their seals.
Afterward, they began to eat and drink.
Later Raguel called his wife Edna and said,
“My love, prepare the other bedroom and bring the girl there.”
She went and made the bed in the room, as she was told,
and brought the girl there.
After she had cried over her, she wiped away the tears and said:
“Be brave, my daughter.
May the Lord grant you joy in place of your grief.
Courage, my daughter.”
Then she left.
When the girl’s parents left the bedroom
and closed the door behind them,
Tobiah arose from bed and said to his wife,
“My love, get up.
Let us pray and beg our Lord to have mercy on us
and to grant us deliverance.”
She got up, and they started to pray
and beg that deliverance might be theirs.
And they began to say:
    “Blessed are you, O God of our fathers,
        praised be your name forever and ever.
    Let the heavens and all your creation
        praise you forever.
    You made Adam and you gave him his wife Eve
        to be his help and support;
        and from these two the human race descended.
    You said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone;
        let us make him a partner like himself.’
    Now, Lord, you know that I take this wife of mine
        not because of lust,
        but for a noble purpose.
    Call down your mercy on me and on her,
        and allow us to live together to a happy old age.”
They said together, “Amen, amen,” and went to bed for the night.

Responsorial Psalm
128:1-2, 3, 4-5

R. (see 1a) Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
    who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
    Blessed shall you be, and favored.

R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
    in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
    around your table. 

R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

Behold, thus is the man blessed
    who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
    may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
    all the days of your life. 

R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

Alleluia
See 2 Tm 1:10

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death
and brought life to light through the Gospel.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

GOSPEL
Mk 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.

REFLECTION:

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love cast out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears does not reach perfection in love. We love because He first loved us."

(1 John 4:18)

I also ask myself, in the presence of Jesus, what it means to love God with all my heart, all my soul and with all my mind and with all my strength. I ask for this single-mindedness, and for seeing all my life embraced in this commitment.

PRAYER:

Lord, enlarge my heart. Make me more and more sensitive to the quality of your love, especially as Holy Week comes near. There you show me so dramatically how much you love me. Make me a grateful person. 

The Greatest Commandment

March 12, 2021, Friday
Friday of the Third Week of Lent (Violet)
CYCLE B - YEAR I
RDGS: HOS 14:2-10/ PS 81:6-8. 8-9. 10-11. 14. 17
GOSPEL: MK 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.

GOSPEL REFLECTION:

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love cast out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears does not reach perfection in love. We love because He first loved us."

(1 John 4:18)

I also ask myself, in the presence of Jesus, what it means to love God with all my heart, all my soul and with all my mind and with all my strength. I ask for this single-mindedness, and for seeing all my life embraced in this commitment.

PRAYER: 

Lord, enlarge my heart. Make me more and more sensitive to the quality of your love, especially as Holy Week comes near. There you show me so dramatically how much you love me. Make me a grateful person.