13 March 2015 — GOSPEL: MK 12:28-34

Friday of the 3rd Week of Lent

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:

In today's Gospel, a scribe put a worthy question to Jesus, "Which commandment is d first of all?" Jesus answered, Love is the supreme commandment, that is Loving God & Loving our neighbour.

V should love & serve God with all of our being.  Jesus shows that v r called to direct our whole lives to God, which includes our actions and choices & shd help us to love and come closer to God. 

Jesus then points out that v r to love our neighbor as ourselves. V r called to show God's unconditional love for all pple, which enables us to more fully see God's presence in the world.

V may think that these two commandments r too basic or simple, bt they r very difficult to follow. 

So many things in our lives try to pull our focus away from serving God and others: greed, wealth, pride, fear etc. V may hv earthly desires, but nothing shd come even close to our desire to love and serve God & our neighbour.

We must continually remind ourselves of the importance of these commandments, and I think this Lenten season has the ability to bring our minds back to God. 

Let us look to today's Gospel & remember v r showing God that He comes first in our lives.

Jesus loves u. Hv a nice day ahead. God bless.
💐💙Wt Love. ...  Fr Robin, Powai💙💐