Because God loved humanity first,

experiencing that unconditional love through Jesus

empowers believers to extend that

same grace to themselves and others.

 

 ＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊   

2 Timothy 2:8-15

Remember Christ Jesus,

Risen from the dead, Jesus, son of David, as preached in my gospel.

For this gospel I labor, and even wear chains like an evildoer, but the word of God is not chained.

And, so, I bear everything, for the sake of the chosen people, that they, too,

may obtain the salvation given to us, in Christ Jesus, and share eternal glory.

This statement is true: If we have died with him, we shall also live with him;

 

If we endure with him, we shall reign with him; If we deny him, he will also deny us;

If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself.

Remind your people of these things, and urge them, in the presence of God,

not to fight over words, which does no good, but only ruins those who listen.

Be for God, an active and proven minister, a blameless worker, correctly handling the word of truth.

 

Ps 25:4-5ab, 8-9, 10, 14

Teach me your ways, O Lord.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊      

Mark 12:28-34

A teacher of the law had been listening to this discussion and admired how Jesus answered them.

So he came up and asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?"

Jesus answered, "The first is: Hear, Israel! The Lord, our God, is One Lord;

and you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul,

with all your mind and with all your strength. And after this comes a second commandment:

You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these two."

 

The teacher of the law said to him, "Well spoken, Master; you are right when you say that he is one,

and there is no other besides him. To love him with all our heart, with all our understanding and with all our strength,

and to love our neighbor as ourselves is more important than any burnt offering or sacrifice."

Jesus approved this answer and said, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."

And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

There is no measure in love.

How wonderful it is to know what God commands us to do: love!

And that's what we also desire! Yet, we struggle to grasp what love truly means.

To what extent should we love? What is the measure of love? God, who created us in love, knows best.

God asks us to love Him to the best of our abilities, with all our minds and hearts, embracing all we are.

There is no measure in love. Loving to the best of who we are encompasses all of the commandments.

 

However, the main invitation and foundation of all this is to allow ourselves to be loved by God so that we can love.

Only by accepting God's love, as revealed in Jesus, can we become capable of loving Him, ourselves, and others.

The scribe in today's Gospel is intelligent but still needs to live what he claims to know.

He must experience in his heart what his mind understands. That is also our challenge: to live out what we know and believe.