First Reading Deuteronomy 6:2-6
Moses teaches the people to love and worship God alone.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 18:2-3,3-4,47,51
A prayer of praise to God our strength
Second Reading Hebrews 7:23-28
Jesus intercedes for us as our eternal high priest.
Gospel Reading Mark 12:28b-34
Jesus is questioned by a scribe about the greatest commandment.
Background on the Gospel Reading
As we continue to read from Mark’s Gospel, our Lectionary skips a chapter that helps set the context for today’s reading. If we were to read the sections skipped (chapter 11 and part of chapter 12), we would hear about Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, his cleansing of the Temple, and the questioning of Jesus’ authority by the chief priests, scribes, and elders. The context, therefore, for this Gospel is Jesus’ growing exposure before the Jewish authorities. Jesus is being questioned and tested by the Jewish authorities, yet the scribe who addresses Jesus in today’s Gospel seems to be an admirer; he is not testing Jesus.
The question posed in today’s Gospel requires Jesus to interpret the Law of Moses. The Mosaic Law consists of the Ten Commandments and many additional commandments, numbering into the hundreds. For a devout Jew, adherence to the Mosaic Law is an expression of faithfulness to God’s covenant with Israel. The ranking of these commandments was regularly debated among the teachers of the Law.
Jesus was not the only Jewish religious teacher to connect these two commandments, love of God and love of neighbor. Both of these commandments were central elements of the religious tradition that Jesus learned from his Jewish community. Indeed, these commandments continue to be central aspects of contemporary Jewish religious understanding. Jesus’ response to his questioners proposed an integral connection between these two aspects of the Jewish Law. Love of God finds its expression in our love for our neighbor. Many believe, however, that this connection was heard in a new and fresh way when spoken by Jesus.
The scribe who questions Jesus in today’s Gospel engages in a positive dialogue with Jesus. He agrees with Jesus’ teaching that the commandments to love God and love neighbor stand above the commandment to offer worship and sacrifice in the Temple. With this dialogue, Jesus appears to close the debate with the Jewish authorities. Mark reports that no one dared to question Jesus further.
December 2 - First Sunday of Advent Year C
November 25 - Feast of Christ the King: His kingdom come!
November 18 - Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time: Life is short
November 11 - Thirty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time: To give thankfully
November 4 - Thirty First Sunday in Ordinary Time: What are your Priorities?
October 28 - Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time: leaving behind the cloak in order to come closer to Christ
October 21 - Twenty Ninth Sunday in the Ordinary Time: Power
October 14 - Twenty Eighty Sunday in Ordinary Time: Riches
October 7 – Twenty seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time: Marriage and Divorce
September 30 – Twenty Sixth Sunday in ordinary Time: acknowledge the good others do
September 23 - Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Becoming the first to serve
September 16 - Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Where Sorrow is there is holy ground
September 9 - Twenty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time: The gift of receiving and the gift of transmitting
September 02 - Twenty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time: Why we do? What we do??
August 26 - Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time : Do you want to quit?
August 19 - Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time: To Become What We Receive
August 12 - Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Eucharist – A Foretaste of Heaven
August 5 - Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Food that lasts for ever
July 29 - Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: To place in the hands of Jesus
July 22 - Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Work and Prayer
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