Mark 12:28-34

2 Timothy 2:8-15

Psalm 25:4-5ab, 8-9, 10 and 14

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.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I seek to know your will. I promise throughout the day to go to your Son and eagerly listen to his words so that I may know how to act. Pour out your Spirit into my heart to guide my actions.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The Third Test: In the Gospel of Mark, the third dispute (Mark 12:28-34) is not explicitly called a test as it is in the Gospel of Matthew (22:35). The scribe seems to approach Jesus in sincerity and asks him a question about the 613 commandments contained in the Law of Moses (the Torah). One of the things the scribes, the scholars of the Law, often sought for in the Law was an overarching principle or first commandment that summarized and grounded all the other commandments (Healy, The Gospel of Mark, 246). When asked by the scribe what he thinks about this question, Jesus identifies the commandment to love God with our entire being as the first and greatest commandment. He quotes Deuteronomy 6:4-5. This was the Israelite confession of faith, known as the Shema (“Hear”). “In fidelity to Deut 6:7 devout Jews recite the Shema every morning and evening. Jewish homes usually have a mezuzah, a little box containing the Shema inscribed on parchment, affixed to the doorpost (see Deut 6:9). Orthodox Jewish men (and sometimes women) wear tefillin (or phylacteries), leather boxes containing the Shema, on their head and hand during prayer (Deut 6:8)” (Healy, The Gospel of Mark, 247). The Shema affirms that the Lord (YHWH) alone is God. As the creator of all things, God deserves all that we are in return.

2. Loving God and Loving Neighbor: Jesus does not stop with love for God as the first commandment, but announces the second greatest commandment and quotes Leviticus 19:18: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. To love is to will the good for someone. We are called to love others and will what is good for them just as we seek what is truly good for ourselves. Love of God and love of our brothers and sisters go together. As the First Letter of John teaches, we are liars if we say we love God but do not love our fellow human beings (1 John 4:20). The scribe sees that Jesus, the New Solomon, has passed the third test. Jesus has imparted true wisdom about the meaning of our earthly life (give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s) and the nature of our life after death (God is the God of the living). He now teaches how love is at the center and foundation of everything.

3. Dying and Living with Christ: The First Reading likely contains an ancient Christian hymn that speaks about the blessings and curses that await us at the moment of our death and the final judgment. On the one hand, dying with Christ leads to life with him and persevering through trial leads to reigning with Christ. On the other, rejecting and denying Christ leads to Christ denying us. As we hear in Matthew’s Gospel: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day,o ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers’” (Matthew 7:21-23). We died with Christ at our Baptism and rose to new life with him. Do we continue to die with Christ and die to ourselves throughout our lives? “Those who persevere in faith will live and reign with Christ, but those who deny him will be disowned and disgraced in the end. Our ultimate certainty is that Christ will follow through on his promises and threats and so exercise his justice and mercy in perfect faithfulness to the terms of the New Covenant” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament, 398).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I do not want to be near your Kingdom. I want to be fully within the Kingdom. I want you to dwell and reign in me. I desire to be your apostle and bring you and your message of merciful love to the ends of the earth.

Living the Word of God: How am I loving God and loving my neighbor? List out the concrete ways you have loved God this past week. What moments did I spend with God in prayer? When did I reject temptation and choose to love? List out the concrete ways you have loved your neighbor this past week. Did I spend quality time with my spouse and family? Did I serve the poor in some way? Did I practice any corporeal or spiritual works of mercy?