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Mar
05

Gospel of Mark 12, Jesus Teaches the Greatest Commandment!

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Day 39, Mark 12

Good Day Everyone and here we are at another FIRST FRIDAY!!!!

This the Only First Friday in LENT and then in HOLY WEEK we will have another First Friday — So Good Friday is in four weeks!!!  Get fired up!

Remember the devotion to first Friday and first Saturday and click on Devotions page for details and promises to those who pray and follow the devotion!!!

Today we  see some new stuff Mark tells that I don’t recall from Matthew! 

We learn by repetition also — it takes hearing something seven times before it sinks in… So get fired up because JESUS has something to say to you today!!!

I see three golden points in this chapter:

  1. God of the Living
  2. The Greatest Commandment
  3. Contributing from Poverty

1- God of the Living

Ok so here we see in this whole chapter the Pharisees and Scribes are just out to get Jesus and they are going after His words – soon they will be out for His blood!

- they know that if they can get Him on His words then they win!  They can put someone to death if they blaspheme God– especially if they say they are God!

So they pose to Jesus the question about the Resurrection and whose wife will a woman be etc… you read the complicated case study they brought to JESUS — just trying to get him!!!

Jesus ends up making it clear that there will not be marriage in heaven — another great reason to understand that marriage on earth — is for specific purpose — making Christ present through the sacrament of marriage! 

God’s love is made present when the two become one flesh and the conjugal love  of spouses – man and woman together with Christ in the union brings forth new life – and a child is born! 

Marriage is an image of the TRINITY — the LOVE relationship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!

That is why couples who say “I do” to the sacrament must be open to life and why the union cannot be broken —

but I digress — you can see that this came right after the last chapter and Jesus talking about divorce –

Anyway –Jesus makes it clear that there will be a rising of the dead — which was news to them — and that God’s focus is on the living -

- meaning life on earth and eternal life — because those who enter into eternal life will be living forever — no longer asleep as they knew the dead to be.

Remember that song I included here back in Matthew– Awake O Sleeper — this song was sung back in St. Paul’s day to the early Christians after they were baptized!

Baptism wakes you up and you rise from the dead and begin to live in the kingdom here on earth!

Jesus says, did God not tell Moses at the burning bush that He was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?

But I really like this part… where Jesus says,

Are you not misled because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God?

So the key here is — if any of us are ever being misled — it is because we don’t KNOW the SCRIPTURES or we don’t KNOW the POWER of GOD!

I mean I JUST LOVE THIS —- because it is so true –

I don’t care who a person is… they can go to daily Mass but as St. Jerome said, “Ignorance of Scripture is Ignorance of Christ!”

Once we know HIM in HIS WORD —- and then also have seen HIS POWER work in our lives or in the lives of other Christians… then we are not as apt to being misled!

Of course to know Him is also to experience Him in the sacraments but JESUS actually says here know the scriptures!!!

And when we see someone misled in the teachings of Jesus Christ taught by Good Mother Church —

we must realize that there must be a lack of knowledge of scripture and experience of the POWER of God!!!

2- The Greatest Commandment -

Now I LOVE THIS SECTION!!!  I am so fired up because you can just feel what happens here!!! 

Did you catch that right from the beginning there was something different that we haven’t seen before — we read…

“One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him,”

OK so now this lead in shows us that this one was not OUT TO GET HIM!

Jesus replies to His very good question about the Greatest Commandment!

He says,

“The first is this: ‘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.’

Well let’s just stop here a minute…

heart, soul, mind OK… but strength????  How do you love with strength?

Hmmmmmm… that must mean when it is hard to love?  When you don’t feel like loving?  When you have to love anyway when you don’t feel anything –

-we should remember this when we don’t feel like praying… or serving the Lord — we must use all our strength — how about all our energy!!

Our focus and energy makes up our strength too — Do we give that all to God?

That’s a good question!!!

The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’

Now this one was a little harder for them to take!!  But this one flows from number one because this is how we show we love God … by loving our neighbor!

So this was new — IE — not in original ten commandments – a new commandment– even though we see commandments that direct us to love our neighbor –

These are the greatest according to JESUS — and so these are worth a lot of reflection each week — and worth repenting where we think we have been missing the mark!

Then we see the Scribe say,

“Well said , teacher, You are right in saying, ‘He is One and there is no other than He’ and to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself’ is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

How cool is this to FINALLY SEE a SCRIBE — come over to JESUS’ side!!! I mean can you imagine the JOY Jesus felt over this Scribe!!!! 

I mean I was sooooo happy that instead of trying to get JESUS …someone actually GOT IT!!

And then what does it say?…. The Scribe answered with UNDERSTANDING!

And when Jesus saw this… He said to him…

“YOU are not far from the kingdom of God.”

WOW what cool words — I haven’t heard Jesus say this to anyone yet have you?

This shut everyone up — no one dared to ask him any more questions!

THIS really makes all of that interrogation by the Pharisees worth it right?  I  mean for just one to get it — it is better than no one getting it!

 I mean this is worth a celebration!!  I think this might have been Nicodemus?  Anyone know?

I am so fired up –  JESUS doesn’t give up on the Scribes and Pharisees and neither should we — we all have them in our life — and we all have been them or are them at different times in our life!!!

3- Contributing from Poverty

I love this widow!  Remember that she is a widow and that just drives the point home that she has no one providing for her…

… she has to rely on God and the generosity of others — because she is poor we know that she is most likely even an outcast — she might not have a child supporting her!

NOW I once heard a BEAUTIFUL teaching or homily about these two small coins – the priest who was preaching said that — they knew it was two small coins…

HOW did they know?  How did Jesus know? 

Well he said that the way the money was put into the treasury was that it was dropped in to some kind of box type or metal tube of some sort that had a big slot- opening at the top — so he said that when money went in you could hear how much was going in by the sound it makes — I guess like the slot machines !

—You know what it sounds like when someone wins and you hear all the change come rushing out!  But when the two coins dropped in it made a sound like just two small coins – not much of a  sound- can you imagine how humiliating that could be? 

SO JESUS points it out and teaches a very important lesson — we are to give not only from our surplus– the extra that we have —

— but a sacrificial offering is one where it might hurt and it requires trust that God will provide!  You might have to go without something yourself to make the offering!

God is so good and He always provides for our needs especially when you give Him your first fruits — the scriptural giving is 10% of your income goes right off the top to GOD!

I never understood tithing as many Catholics don’t understand and many think that the money is going right into the priests pocket — bottom line is that you are giving to God!  The offering at Mass has special importance!

When I finally received the vision for what tithing really was and how big of a blessing it is -and that not tithing was cutting off my openness to God– I can’t tell you how my life changed –God always provides for me and my family! 

I LOVE TITHING!!!  Because you cannot out give GOD!!!

During LENT we are called to give to the poor — even if it is two small coins out of LOVE — it is better than not — but so significant if you want to see God move in your life!

Praise God today and may He truly bless you and set you free with HIS WORD!

What are your insights and/or take- aways!

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  • Anonymous

    My favorite part in today’s reading is the part about the commandments. And I am sorry Marie, but you missed a part there that is always left out. You have to love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and love thy neighbor AS YOU LOVE YOURSELF, for your love of God. People tend to forget the love yourself part, maybe because we confuse it with selfishness. Since I was a little girl, I always heard that I had to love God and love my neighbor and I focus in that. And I denied myself. So much that I drained. And Jesus is so smart. The commandment is to love thy neighbor as you love yourself. And if we don’t learn to love ourselves, how can we love others?

    To love ourselves we need to take care of ourselves. We need to nurture our bodies and our souls, make sure we fill ourselves with God, His love, recognize the gifts we have been given and use them properly. And if we love ourselves, we will certainly know how to love our neighbor. We will never do to them what we don’t want to be done to us. And we can serve our neighbor better. And we can serve God better. This is one of the big lessons I learned after my divorce, and was taught by God Himself through His Scriptures. And I learned to say No, when it was the right thing.
    Jesus loved Himself. When He needed to pray, he left the people behind and went by Himself. When He needed to eat, He ate and gave others to eat too. He was disciplined and He was strong.
    God gives us so many gifts and if we don’t love ourselves, we don’t recognize them and, hence, don’t use them and we don’t put them to the service of others. I don’t know to explain this, but I can say that it wasn’t until I learned this part of Jesus’ teaching that I really learned to love my neighbors and give all I have. It’s like understanding that God loves me, so if I love Him with all my heart, soul and mind, I have to love myself too. And in so doing, I have strength to love others and go out and give of myself. I don’t get tired so easily. I have found that I have a glow that I didn’t have before. And people notice and tell me, and ask me, and I tell. And I had so many gifts that I didn’t know about and had buried like the man who was given talents. That is why he buried them. He did not love himself, I think, so he didn’t believe he could multiply them.
    I also loved the part about God being a God of the living. I had not noticed that before, Jesus actually saying it. Of course, He is the giver of Life. And we have to be alive in Him on this earth and we will be alive when we pass on.

  • http://FiredUpCatholics.com/ Marie Joseph

    WOW I LOVE this and thank you for taking that PART about LOVING OURSELVES — which gets tucked behind loving our neighbor and missed — SO thank you for bringing it out like a rare jewel!!! These are great words to meditate on today!! God bless you! Absolutely true and beautiful!

  • cuquilavergne

    My favorite part in today's reading is the part about the commandments. And I am sorry Marie, but you missed a part there that is always left out. You have to love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and love thy neighbor AS YOU LOVE YOURSELF, for your love of God. People tend to forget the love yourself part, maybe because we confuse it with selfishness. Since I was a little girl, I always heard that I had to love God and love my neighbor and I focus in that. And I denied myself. So much that I drained. And Jesus is so smart. The commandment is to love thy neighbor as you love yourself. And if we don't learn to love ourselves, how can we love others?

    To love ourselves we need to take care of ourselves. We need to nurture our bodies and our souls, make sure we fill ourselves with God, His love, recognize the gifts we have been given and use them properly. And if we love ourselves, we will certainly know how to love our neighbor. We will never do to them what we don't want to be done to us. And we can serve our neighbor better. And we can serve God better. This is one of the big lessons I learned after my divorce, and was taught by God Himself through His Scriptures. And I learned to say No, when it was the right thing.
    Jesus loved Himself. When He needed to pray, he left the people behind and went by Himself. When He needed to eat, He ate and gave others to eat too. He was disciplined and He was strong.
    God gives us so many gifts and if we don't love ourselves, we don't recognize them and, hence, don't use them and we don't put them to the service of others. I don't know to explain this, but I can say that it wasn't until I learned this part of Jesus' teaching that I really learned to love my neighbors and give all I have. It's like understanding that God loves me, so if I love Him with all my heart, soul and mind, I have to love myself too. And in so doing, I have strength to love others and go out and give of myself. I don't get tired so easily. I have found that I have a glow that I didn't have before. And people notice and tell me, and ask me, and I tell. And I had so many gifts that I didn't know about and had buried like the man who was given talents. That is why he buried them. He did not love himself, I think, so he didn't believe he could multiply them.
    I also loved the part about God being a God of the living. I had not noticed that before, Jesus actually saying it. Of course, He is the giver of Life. And we have to be alive in Him on this earth and we will be alive when we pass on.

  • http://FiredUpCatholics.com/ Marie Joseph

    WOW I LOVE this and thank you for taking that PART about LOVING OURSELVES — which gets tucked behind loving our neighbor and missed — SO thank you for bringing it out like a rare jewel!!! These are great words to meditate on today!! God bless you! Absolutely true and beautiful!

  • PadreCarlos

    The need to take care of self as part of loving oneself struck me as verymuch to the point and well put, but taking care of oneself is not the same as indulging oneself. Going to the gym is taking care, by punishing the body in a way so it can become better. Likewise spiritually the discipline and denial we use is to better ourselves as well as to offer something to God in reparation.
    It strikes me that these reflections and comments are like having someone fertilize and stir up the soil around ones roots. The plant can’t do it by itself, but others can lend a hand so that the life, and fruit of the plant is enhanced such as the faith and good works.

  • PadreCarlos

    The need to take care of self as part of loving oneself struck me as verymuch to the point and well put, but taking care of oneself is not the same as indulging oneself. Going to the gym is taking care, by punishing the body in a way so it can become better. Likewise spiritually the discipline and denial we use is to better ourselves as well as to offer something to God in reparation.
    It strikes me that these reflections and comments are like having someone fertilize and stir up the soil around ones roots. The plant can't do it by itself, but others can lend a hand so that the life, and fruit of the plant is enhanced such as the faith and good works.

  • http://FiredUpCatholics.com/ Marie Joseph

    Absolutely beautifully said!! Thanks for this share — and so true — there must be a balance and the right kind of loving oneself — it is humbly loving oneself because God created you — otherwise it falls into vanity — all for the love of God!

  • http://FiredUpCatholics.com/ Marie Joseph

    Absolutely beautifully said!! Thanks for this share — and so true — there must be a balance and the right kind of loving oneself — it is humbly loving oneself because God created you — otherwise it falls into vanity — all for the love of God!