DGeMs- Daily Gospel eMessage
Dear Friend in the Lord,
Authentic Love: In today’s Gospel, Jesus proclaims that the greatest commandment is to love God totally and wholeheartedly, and love our neighbour as ourselves, as an inseparable condition. Loving God without loving our neighbour is not the Gospel that Jesus proclaimed. Loving neighbour without loving God is human love.
Fr Philip Heng, S.J.
Mark 12:28b-34a
One of the scribes came up to Jesus put a question to him, ‘Which is the first of all the commandments?’ Jesus replied, ‘This is the first: Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the one, only Lord, and you must 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 must love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.’
The scribe said to him, ‘Well spoken, Master; what you have said is true, that he is one and there is no other. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself, this is far more important than any burnt offering or sacrifice.’ Jesus, seeing how wisely he had spoken, said, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’