THURSDAY OF THE NINTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - Mk 12:28-34 - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

READING OF THE DAY

A reading from the Second Letter of St. Paul to Timothy

2 Tm 2:8-15

Beloved:

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David:

such is my Gospel, for which I am suffering,

even to the point of chains, like a criminal.

But the word of God is not chained.

Therefore, I bear with everything for the sake of those who are chosen,

so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus,

together with eternal glory.

This saying is trustworthy:

If we have died with him

we shall also live with him;

if we persevere

we shall also reign with him.

But if we deny him

he will deny us.

If we are unfaithful

he remains faithful,

for he cannot deny himself.

Remind people of these things

and charge them before God to stop disputing about words.

This serves no useful purpose since it harms those who listen.

Be eager to present yourself as acceptable to God,

a workman who causes no disgrace,

imparting the word of truth without deviation.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Mark

Mk 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.

THURSDAY OF THE NINTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - Mk 12:28-34

THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

Dear People of God,

In God's Word today, God reveals to humanity a God of love, the Lord our God is Lord alone!

God will give eternal life to all those who love Him and follow His teachings.

Through the conversation dialog between Jesus Christ and the doctor of the law, God wants to tell humanity that: to enter the kingdom of God, we must practice the two most important commandments, which are: 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 You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

There is no precept as great as this precept of love. Through that, He wants mankind to know that there is only one God in this world, and only He is eternal love, the One who brings us eternal life. Humans should run to God and live in gratitude to Him because He loved and created us, allowed us to be born as humans, and allowed us to live in God's providence. God wants humans to stop being ungrateful to Him, and return to make peace with God with a life of love, with a life of worshipping Him alone. Because besides Him, there is no other god who can bring eternal life to humanity.

God the Father also revealed He does not want people to merely say with their lips, 'I love God with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind, with all my strength, and love my neighbor as myself,' but fail to put it into practice. God desires that humanity demonstrates love through their actions, not just their words. However, in today's world, humans are greatly being harassed by Satan, who always hinders us from coming to God. As a result, many people often only speak about love and faith on their lips and mouth without living it out in their lives.

That is why God the Father calls humans to: convert our lives, abandon the sinful path, abandon the temptations of the world, abandon Satan's temptations of lust, so that our bodies completely belong to God the Father. It is then both our soul and our body will faithfully worship only One God the Father.

And through worshipping and fearing God, who is the only One, enables us to practice a life of love for others, that is: loving our brothers and sisters as ourselves.

This is the important thing that God the Father wants to tell all of His children: do not listen to Satan's temptations anymore. Abandon them and practice God's calling: to fear God with all our heart and love our neighbor as ourselves; so that when the day comes when God the Father calls us out of this world, our souls will be brought by God to enjoy happiness in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Kingdom of Heaven is the main goal that humans need to seek and achieve because there is nothing more important than enjoying happiness in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Thanks be to God. Amen.