Thursday of the 9th week in ordinary time
2 Tim. 2: 8-15 Mark 12: 28b-34
Theme: The greatest commandments
In the gospel reading of today from St. Mark, Jesus tell’s us that the greatest commandments are love of God and neighbour. This is a subtle way of telling us that if we truly want to please God and be his follower, then we must be people of love. Our words and actions should be guided by love of God and neighbour. Interestingly, Jesus is not telling us to do what he did not do, he is simply saying we should emulate him and his father by practicing love. Remember, that the incarnation of Jesus was informed by his fathers love for sinful humanity and that is also why Jesus accepted to go to the cross to die for us. As followers of Christ, we are all encouraged to emulate Christ and strive to live it out in our daily lives. At the end of the day, it will be for our own good. This stems from the fact that when there is love, it will take care of most of the challenges we have today in our lives, if not all of them.
In view of this, our readings today are something we all can easily relate with, though at different levels. We are all capable of loving and to receive love from others. So, what Jesus is encouraging us to do in todays gospel is for our own good. The challenges in our world today, is majorly because people are becoming more self centred and less selfless. But if we give love a chance in our lives, it will make a lot of difference, and it will help us to build a better human relationship and a better relationship with God. When this happens, we will all be thinking about the collective good of us all and not just our personal good. It is because of lack of love that some of those in authority, will confidently be using our collective wealth for themselves, friends and family, without minding how it affects the generality of the people. Let us take the assertion of Jesus in todays gospel reading seriously and make honest and sincere effort to practice it in our lives.
There is no better time to preach love than at this time in our world. This is a time when people are ready and willing to hurt other people because of their selfish gains. People are ready to build sub standard infrastructures because they have allowed their greed to take the front stage and they are not worried about the effect of the choice they have made. At the end of the day, people get hurt because of their greed. In view of this, we are all encouraged today to emulate Christ and put the common good first before any other person or group of persons. May the Lord grant us the grace to live a life that is founded on love, in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit, Amen. Peace be with you.