In our Gospel reading today, Jesus encounters a sincere scribe, unlike the other Pharisees, Herodians, and Sadducees, who continually attempted to trick him and destroy his words. Because of his sincerity, Jesus off ers great hope to this scribe by telling him that he is not far from the Kingdom of God.

We can relate both to the sincere scribe and to those who doubted in Jesus. There are times when we have doubted in God’s love for us, and there are times when we have truly trusted in him. We must learn to trust him more than we doubt, so that we are not far from the Kingdom of God.

The scribe doesn’t approach Jesus with skepticism, but rather with an open heart. He is sincerely seeking to know Jesus’s identity. This humility and simplicity enables Jesus to reveal himself to this one scribe and draw so near to him that Jesus can tell him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God."

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1st Reading Reflection	Discussion
2nd Readin Reflection	Digging Deeper
Gospel Reflection

 

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First Reading Reflection

Deuteronomy 6:2−6

Because of the busyness of our lives, it can sometimes be diffi cult to keep God at the center. Our lives are typically organized around jobs, money, children, and other important commitments, given the secularity of our culture. This reading from Deuteronomy suggests a diff erent organizing principle for our lives, one that calls us to love God completely. In the Catholic tradition, we refer to this central virtue of loving God as caritas, which means charity. All the virtues of a Christian originate with caritas, or love of God. Deuteronomy here insists on the interior dimension of love: we are to love God with all our heart (levav) and with all our soul (nephesh). This interior orientation toward God in love leads to action with our bodily strength (me’od). This commandment not only unites the whole law, but it unites the whole of our lives in God. Our work, our family lives, our friendships, and our duties are all brought together by caritas—by love for God. Saint Paul explains this concept: “Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord and not for others” (Colossians 3:23). Moses promises the people that if they obey this law, they can look forward to the blessings of long life, happy circumstances, and many children in the Promised Land. We too can anticipate eternal life, sharing in God’s happiness in the Promised Land of Heaven if we take to heart his central commandment of the law: to love God..

 

Second Reading Reflection

Hebrews 7:23−28

In this second reading, we fi nd three arguments for the superiority of the New Covenant over the Old Covenant, centered primarily on the priesthood. First, the Old Covenant had many priests, while the New Covenant has only one eternal High Priest. Second, under the Old Covenant, many repetitious sacrifi ces were needed, while under the New Covenant there is only one sacrifi ce “once for all” (v. 27). Lastly, weakness and sinfulness of the Old Covenant priests fall short of the high priest of the New Covenant, who is “holy, innocent, undefi led” (v. 26). Jesus’s status as the Eternal High Priest means, “He is always able to save those who approach God through him” (v. 25). Our future, our hope for eternal life, rests on Jesus’s priesthood. It is through the supreme sacrifi ce that he makes on the altar of the Cross as both priest and sacrifi cial victim, such that we come to share in his inheritance. It is essential for us to refl ect on the fact that our God loved us so much that he sent his only Son as a priest to off er himself as a sacrifi ce for us. Our very salvation depends on it.

 

Gospel Reflection

Mark 12: 28-34

Normally, Jesus’s conversations with the prevailing religious authorities are adversarial, but in today’s Gospel, a scribe approaches Jesus in all sincerity to discover whether he has an accurate grasp on the Law of God. Jesus responds to his question about the Greatest Commandment by referring to the shema of Deuteronomy 6, which was our First Reading. Love of God is the center of the Law, yet Jesus goes one step further, to say that the Greatest Commandment is twofold, to include love of neighbor, a law that he quotes from Leviticus 19:18. All of the commandments can be summarized under these two headings: love of God and love of neighbor. Jesus adds that to love God in neighbor “is worth more than all the burnt off erings and sacrifi ces” (v. 33). Jesus approves of his reply, but then subtly challenges him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God” (v. 34). Thus, in this Gospel passage, we are given the Greatest Commandment, which should be the source of our actions and meditations

 

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MEDITATION & DISCUSSION:

Who are some people in your life who are particularly diffi cult to love? How can you strive to “embrace the kingdom,” and do the simple and diffi cult work of loving them as you love yourself?

In order to fulfill the Great Commission to preach the Gospel, do you think you need to know more about Jesus and the Catholic Church fi rst?

 

DIGGING DEEPER:
The Common Priesthood

Baptism is the foundation of our whole life as a Christian, but sadly many Catholics do not know the effects of Baptism and thereby cannot fully actualize them.

One such gift is that we are incorporated into Jesus’s royal priesthood. While only a Catholic priest can exercise the ministerial priesthood, all who are baptized share in the common priesthood of Jesus. Burnt offerings and sacrifi ces are no longer required because Jesus, the eternal High Priest, offered himself as sacrifi ce once and for all. Thus, through our participation in Jesus’s priesthood we are able to offer his priestly sacrifi ce at the Cross back to the Father for ourselves and for the whole world. All sacrifi ces we make now are made redemptive when we unite them with Jesus’s sacrifi ce on the Cross.

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Reflections reprinted with permission from  Opening the Word at Formed.org .
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