St. Rose：

“Lord, increase my sufferings, and with them increase Your love in my heart.”

“Know that the greatest service that man can offer to God is to help convert souls.”

“Without the burden of afflictions it is impossible to reach the height of grace.

　The gift of grace increases as the struggles increase.”

“Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven.”

 

St. Rose of Lima, virgin

 ＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Ezekiel 37:1-14*

The hand of Yahweh was upon me....

Yahweh said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live again?" I said, "Lord Yahweh, only you know that." He then said, "Speak on my behalf concerning these bones; say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of Yahweh! Yahweh says: I am going to put spirit in you and make you live. I shall put sinews on you and make flesh grow on you; I shall cover you with skin and give you my spirit, that you may live. And you will know that I am Yahweh."

 

I prophesied as I had been commanded; (...) the bones joined together. I looked and saw that they had sinews, that flesh was growing on them; and that he was covering them with skin. But there was no spirit in them. So Yahweh said to me, "Speak on my behalf and call on the spirit, son of man! Say to the spirit: This is the word of Yahweh: spirit, come from the four winds. Breathe into these dead bones and let them live!"

 

I prophesied as he had commanded me and breath entered them; they came alive, standing on their feet-a great, immense army!

 

He then said to me, "Son of man, these bones are all Israel. They keep saying: 'Our bones are dry, hope has gone, it is the end of us. So prophesy! Say to them: This is what Yahweh says: I am going to open your tombs; I shall bring you out of your tombs, my people; and lead you back to the land of Israel. You will know that I am Yahweh, O my people! when I open your graves and bring you out of your graves; when I put my spirit in you, and you live. I shall settle you in your land; and you will know that I, Yahweh, have done what I said I would do."

 

Ps 107:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 Give thanks to the Lord; his love is everlasting.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊     

Matthew 22:34-40

When the Pharisees heard how Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they assembled together. One of them, a lawyer, questioned him to test him, "Teacher, which commandment of the law is the greatest?"

Jesus answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and the most important of the commandments.

 

The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

The whole law and the prophets are founded on these two commandments."

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"Two greatest commandments"

Conforming ourselves to the kingdom values is tantamount to making the love of God and love of neighbor as our moral compass. In today's world, it is so easy to get lost – either we say that we love God but despise our neighbors or we do service for others while removing God in the equation. The love of God and the love of neighbor are inseparable.

 

On the one hand, our love for God is the very foundation of our love for others. On the other hand, our love for God is concretized in our love for our neighbors. The Gospel for today tells of these two greatest commandments: the love of God (cf. Dt. 6:5) and the love of neighbor (cf. Lev. 19:18). The passage appears to emphasize the inseparability of these two, with the use of the Greek adjective homoia, which means "like."

 

The second greatest commandment is "like" the first according to Matthew's account, which we cannot find in the account of the parallel passage in the Gospel of Mark (cf. Mk. 12:28-34). In our faith journey, there are times when we tend to 

keep the two separated. If these two are kept apart, our moral compass will surely malfunction.