Texts taken from the “On Your Word” Missal September-October 2021

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
3rd week, Psalter

FIRST READING

From the Book of Deuteronomy (Dt 6:2-6)
Moses spoke to the people, saying: “Fear the Lord your God by observing all the days of your life, you, your son, and your son’s son, all his laws and all his commandments that I give you, so that your days may be prolonged. Hear, O Israel, and be careful to put them into practice, that you may be happy and become very numerous in the land where milk and honey flow, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has told you. Hear, Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Keep these commandments that I give you today fixed in your heart.” The word of God.

Commentary on the First Reading

I imagine a mother who, in a stern tone, admonishes her son who does not want to listen: “If you do not listen to what I tell you, things will end badly.” Essentially, this is what God tells the Jewish people through Moses before entering the Promised Land, after forty years of life in the desert. “Hear, Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” To listen is synonymous with obeying and also implies “do not forget” and put it into practice. If we look at the situation of our nation and the nations of the world, we see that the existing problems are due to the fact that we have forgotten God and his teachings, which instead promise blessings and freedom. In Baptism, we receive the Holy Spirit, who transforms our lives through an awareness of God’s presence. Let us remember, then, and act accordingly to what we have been taught. What happens when we do not listen to what the Lord says? Things will end badly, just as the mother’s warning says.

SECOND READING

From the Letter to the Hebrews (Heb 7:23-28)
Brothers and sisters, [under the first covenant] there were many priests, because death prevented them from remaining in office for long. But Jesus, because he remains forever, has a priesthood that does not pass away. Therefore, he is able to save completely those who draw near to God through him: he is always alive to intercede for them. This is the high priest that we needed: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, as the high priests do, to offer sacrifices every day, first for his own sins and then for those of the people: he did this once for all, offering himself. The Law appoints as high priests men subject to weakness; but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints the Son, made perfect forever, as priest. The word of God.

Commentary on the Second Reading

The discussion of the priesthood focuses on the value of the sacrifice Christ made “once for all, offering himself,” all at once and once for all. He sacrificed himself for us, offering himself to God and exposing himself to human rejection, yet he gave himself completely to humanity despite its hostility. Rejected by us, Jesus dies for us. The cross is the supreme revelation, beyond all imagination and beyond all expectation, of who God truly is. It is the act of the Father giving the Son and of the Son giving himself to the Father to save us. For Jesus, accepting the sacrifice of the cross out of love for the Father was a great honor. That sacrifice will make all things new and will finally change the human heart. It is a sacrifice of eternal value; it is “perfect” and is accomplished by the one who is “always alive” and intercedes for humanity. Jesus Christ is the eternal High Priest who saves all those who, through him, draw near to the Father: he is the High Priest of all people and of all time.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Mark (Mk 12:28b-34)
At that time, one of the scribes approached Jesus and asked him: “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus replied: “The first is: ‘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, and according to the truth, that he is one and there is no other besides him; to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Seeing that he had answered wisely, Jesus said to him: “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one had the courage to question him further. – The word of the Lord.

Commentary on the Gospel of the Day

One of the scribes approached Jesus to ask: “Which is the first of all the commandments?” At that time, the Jews had an enormous number of precepts for observing God’s law, as many as 613. Jesus responds by quoting a passage from the Bible to say that the first of the commandments is “to love God with all one’s heart, with all one’s soul, with all one’s mind, and with all one’s strength.” And he adds, “the second is: you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This is a summary of everything Jesus teaches about God and life. How can we live this commandment of the Lord? Talk, phone, listen, help, study, eat, sleep, live according to his will without wandering; perform perfect actions with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind, with love as the motive for every action we take. Loving God and loving our neighbor are two sides of the same coin. We cannot love God without loving our neighbor, and we cannot love our neighbor without loving God. Thus, at every moment of the day, we will say: “Yes, my God, in this moment, in this action, I have loved you with all my heart.” Jesus places the heart at the center because everything must begin from, return to, and refer back to the heart.