Thursday, June 8, 2017
9th Week in
Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Tb 6:10-11; 7:1, 9-17; 8:4-9
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 another one: 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. 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.” But after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Jesus challenged the status quo by declaring that there was no commandment greater than love. The status quo gave heavy emphasis upon sacrificial offerings and obedience to the law. His listeners were caught flatfooted, including the Teacher of the Law who had questioned Jesus about the greatest Commandment. After all, every Jew has read it in the Book of the Prophet Hosea: “For it is love that I desire, and not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6). Isaiah also wrote: “What care I for the number of your sacrifices? says the Lord. I have had enough of whole burnt rams and fat of fatlings; in the blood of calves, lambs and goats I find no pleasure” (Isaiah 1:11).
When the teacher of the Law concurred with what Jesus said, Jesus told him that he was not far from the kingdom. We too agree that the greatest of all commandments is to love God and neighbor. Would Jesus also declare that we too are not far from the kingdom? To embrace Jesus’ teaching about love is one thing, putting love into practice is another!
The Pharisees used to wear wide phylacteries around their foreheads. On those phylacteries were written important provisions of the Law. Wearing them around their heads was closest to a literal implementation of engraving the law into their minds. Yet they were far from being charitable. We can be like the Pharisees. We have the law of love in our minds but our hands are busy destroying others’ lives. Then we compensate by offering huge donations to the poor. But no matter how much we donate to charity, the more pleasing to God is still the love behind the good that we do. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM
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