THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2024)

THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2024)

Readings:

Deuteronomy 6:2-6

Psalms 18:2-4, 47, 51

Hebrews 7:23-28

Mark 12:28-34

Previously in Mark’s gospel, in the verses that immediately preceded our gospel, this day the Sadducees, Pharisees, Herodians, and Scribes were all on hand, trying to trip Jesus up on questions that they thought were extremely difficult or impossible to answer.  This would be the same group of people that would help to hand Jesus over to His crucifixion.  It was out of this crowd that a Scribe with genuine curiosity steps forward, no doubt impressed with how Jesus debated the other religious leaders.  Some of those leaders no doubt knew their Hebrew Scriptures well.  Some, like the Sadducees, who were more interested in the working of the Temple, were not well-versed in Scripture.

The precepts of the Jewish Law were treated like commandments, but should not be confused with the Ten Commandments.  Indeed, there were 613 precepts of the Law that needed to be observed, and so finding one’s religious way could be somewhat difficult for those who desired to remain faithful.  The Scribe would like to know that he is at least keeping the “first” of all the commandments.  He no doubt trusted Jesus to tell him the truth.  The first thing Jesus quotes is the prayer in our first reading from Deuteronomy, a prayer that continues to be said day and night by those steeped in the Jewish religion, the Shema: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone!  Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.”  It is what Jesus does next to this vertical spirituality that is most unique about His teaching – He adds a horizontal dimension (thus creating a cross).  The second commandment is from the Book of Leviticus, and is no less essential than the first: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Jesus weaves these two commandments together; they are inseparable.

No doubt some of the listeners thought this did a disservice to the other precepts of the Law, but even the Scribe was able to recognize that loving God and loving neighbor was “worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”  As Catholics we are not without our own ‘precepts’ which guide our behavior and way of life, but we should never be confused about what is most important about faith.  Mass going, devotionals, pilgrimages, endless prayers, are only important if they actually draw us closer to the Lord, and cause to love as He taught us.

Because our ‘neighbor’ is all people created by a loving God, the horizontal dimension is going to be the most difficult, for there will be some people who are not easy to love:  the poor, the disenfranchised, those standing on the fringes of society, those we don’t fully understand.  We are reminded by the bishops that there is no such thing as a ‘Christian Nationalism.’  Thus there is no room for talk about vermin, or garbage, or the thinning of American blood.  Our response to those who are different from us is to be measured by love, and to the extent that our actions are unloving in any way, to that extent will make getting into the kingdom of God that much more difficult.

Let us embrace the cross which is both vertical and horizontal +, for while it can lead us to suffering, it can lead us to heaven.  Only by loving, as God wants us to love, will we be the fully redeemed people God wishes us to be.