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Searching: Nov 03 2024
Mark 12: 28b-34
One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?”
Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and 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.”
Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’ —this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Finding Common Ground
Practically everyone on earth knows that the U.S. is days away from an election. Practically everyone in my world knows how bad political polarization has become. It’s been an exhausting time.
In today’s Gospel, we see Jesus in yet another encounter with one of his frequent interlocutors - a scribe. Often, the exchanges between them are tense.
But not this one.
In this one, the scribe asks Jesus an honest (but also urgent) question about what matters most. Jesus answers familiarly that we must love God and one another. Miraculously, the scribe agrees! In spite of their differences, they find common ground.
Peter Maurin, co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement, believed that we must create a world in which it is easy to do good. Perhaps these days, we might take time to discern how we are alike, and not how we are different. Then maybe, we can together draw closer to the Reign of God.
—Fr. Eric Immel, SJ, is a vocation promoter for the Midwest Jesuits. To learn more about how to become a Jesuit, visit beajesuit.org.
Prayer
God, we ask for a flourishing community, where neighbors learn to love each other and come to know Jesus. We pray that we can be good stewards of Your love to each one of our neighbors. We ask that You help us to learn from our community, and it may be a place where all are welcomed.
—Prayer from www.fcsministries.org