THE WORD
Hos 14,2-10 / Mk 12,28-34
One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, 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 off erings 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.
IN OTHER WORDS
Setting direction. Checking goal. These are some of the important points our gospel reading is sharing to us in this season of Lent. Usually, we pray and go to Church because of some personal intentions. This is the normal way. We pray for financial sustenance, success in studies, promotion in work, physical and emotional healing, and enlightenment when in mental and emotional confusion, among many others. These become the highlight of our belief, the center of our religious practice. And these define the way we approach God.
However, our gospel today is reminding us that in as much as the Kingdom of God can be experienced here on earth by the answers of God to our prayers, it is also reminding us that the Kingdom of God is more than this. The Kingdom of God also means being with Him in eternity. How? By loving our neighbors because our love for them is our concrete expression of our love for God who offers us His Kingdom.
I am not saying that praying for personal intentions is bad. It can only be bad when all prayers are directed to the self because that act becomes selfish. Personal prayers directed solely to the self make us forget our neighbors about whom our gospel is reminding us today. Neighbors are part of our existence. They are part of who we are as followers of Christ. They are part of our expression of our love to God.
Let us then be more conscious the next time we pray to include the needs of our neighbors. They are our family, friends, and officemates. They are also our acquaintances no matter who they are and what religion they profess. They are the sick people we meet in the hospitals when we have our executive check-up. They are the homeless we see everyday on our way to work. They are the street children who knock at the glass windows of the restaurants and fast-food chains where we usually eat. They are our church officials and government leaders who are plagued with scandals. Let us also pray for them. Or better still, let us put all of these prayers for these people into action.
- Fr. Ross Heruela, SVD | DWIMS, Tagaytay City
The Word in other words 2016
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
