Because God is the source of love,

one must love Him to truly understand how to love others.

The two commandments are linked,

with love for neighbor serving as a natural extension of loving God.

 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Hosea 14:2-10

Return to your God,

The Lord, O Israel! Your sins have caused your downfall.

Return to the Lord with humble words. Say to him,

"Oh, you who show compassion to the fatherless, forgive our debt,

be appeased. Instead of bulls and sacrifices, accept the praise from our lips.

Assyria will not save us: no longer shall we look for horses,

nor ever again shall we say 'Our gods' to the work of our hands."

 

I will heal their disloyalty and love them with all my heart, for my anger has turned from them.

I shall be like dew to Israel, like the lily will he blossom. Like a cedar, he will send down his roots;

his young shoots will grow and spread. His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance, like a Lebanon cedar.

 

They will dwell in my shade again, they will flourish like the grain, they will blossom like a vine,

and their fame will be like Lebanon wine. What would Ephraim do with idols,

when it is I who hear and make him prosper? I am like an ever-green cypress tree; all your fruitfulness comes from me.

Who is wise enough to grasp all this? Who is discerning and will understand?

Straight are the ways of the Lord: the just walk in them, but the sinners stumble.

 

Ps 81:6c-8a, 8bc-9, 10-11ab, 14 & 17

 I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊     

Mark 12:28-34

A teacher of the law had been listening to this discussion and admired how Jesus answered them.

So he came up and asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?"

Jesus answered, "The first is: Hear, Israel! The Lord, our God, is One Lord;

and 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 after this comes a second commandment:

You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these two." 

 

The teacher of the law said to him, "Well spoken, Master; you are right when you say that he is one,

and there is no other besides him. To love him with all our heart, with all understanding and with all our strength,

and to love our neighbor as ourselves is more important than any burnt offering or sacrifice."

Jesus approved this answer and said, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."

And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

The true measure of loving God.

Jesus's response to the teacher was pleasantly surprising.

When asked which of the hundreds, if not thousands, of laws was the most important,

Jesus did not respond with an esoteric or obscure commandment;

instead, he referred to the Shema, a prayer familiar to all Jews, including children.. 

 

Another novel twist introduced by Jesus is the unification of the command to love God

with the imperative to love one's neighbor. From this point forward,

the true measure of loving God does not lie in our meticulous

observance of religious rituals but in our love for God's creation. 

 

Today, Jesus reassures us that following God's will, while not easy,

remains straightforward. Every kindness we extend to others,

every moment we heed our conscience – our inner voice – and each time

we address our neighbor's needs, we proclaim our love for God.