God’s Living Word Today - Thursday, June 4, 2020

God’s Living Word Today - Thursday, June 4, 2020

[2 Tim 2:8-15 and Mark 12:28b-34]
The scribe said and to love God 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." [Mark]

 The scribe in this Gospel scene is not looking at Jesus with the same eyes of faith that we do.  Jesus was, to him, one among many other "teachers."  His dialogue with Jesus would have been a common interaction.  Scribes were considered the experts in the Law of Moses.  What sets this scribe apart is the priority he gives to this commandment of love among the 613 precepts in the law.  Jesus' response is basically, "You're headed in the right direction...."  Jesus creates with his encounter with the scribe ‘a teachable moment’.

 We meet people who have a terrific knowledge of all the traditions and rules of Catholicism, some of them not even Catholic!  What seems missing in their "faith" is the priority commandment that Jesus approves.  Occasionally we learn that what is keeping the non-Catholics in this group from becoming a Catholic or Christian at all is our failure to demonstrate our commitment to the priority of love that Jesus approves!       And from those who are Catholic-by-baptism, we learn, especially from young adults, that rigid enforcement of rules and regulations concerning customs from of old has "turned them off" to our wonderful tradition.  In this regard it is helpful to see earlier in the Gospel According to Mark 7:7-8: "You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition."  Learning the difference between the two is an important "step in the right direction." 

We May be the only Bible some people read…. We may be the only Jesus some peoplesee…. How we carry ourselves as a committed believers in Jesus Christ is as important as what we say. Francis of Assisi said, "It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching."

Father Dennis