Greetings (see Second Reading)
Jesus here among us offered himself for us. He is living
forever to intercede for all of us who come to him. May his grace and peace be
always with you. R/ And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant Love:
Summit and Summary of all Commandments.
There is no greater love than that which disposes someone to
give up one’s life for others. Jesus, the person who tells us this, proved by
his own life and death that he meant what he said. He insists that love of God
and love of people are one and inseparable. It is perhaps easy to love an
unseen God but it is often very difficult for us to love people whose weakness
we see, people who are cranky and rough and unreliable. But if we cannot love
these people, we really do not love God. Jesus, who is God’s love alive, can
give us his own endless, reliable love.
Share God’s Love People who love one another deeply
are disposed to sacrifice themselves for one another. Yet, what counts more
than the sacrifice itself, is their mutual love; that is the root. Love is so
great because, more than anything else, it is a gift from God who loved us
first. If we become fully aware of this it will be easy to love people and to
be at peace and in love with ourselves, for God loves us in all our frailty and
fickleness and he keeps accepting us. Why, then, should we not accept also
those around us? We ask the Lord in this Eucharist to let us feel his love and
to enable us share it.
Penitential Act Whose love has not failed at times? Let
us ask the Lord and those we have hurt to forgive us in the generosity of their
heart. (pause)
Lord Jesus, let us share in your love that was attentive to
all people and cured their ills: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have
mercy.
Jesus Christ, let us share in your love that embraced even
sinners and outcasts: Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, let us share in your love that went all the way,
even accepting death to save the unjust, the ungrateful, the hard-hearted: Lord,
have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord, and forgive us all our sins. Make us
capable of a love that excludes no one and lead us to everlasting life. R/
Amen.
Opening Prayer Let us pray to God, the source of all
love to refresh our love (pause)
Lord our God, loving Father, all true love comes from you
and leads to you. You have committed yourself to us in a covenant of lasting
love in the person of Jesus Christ. Help us to respond to your love with the
whole of our being and to live your commandments not as laws forced on us from
outside but as opportunities to love you for yourself and in people, our
brothers and sisters. We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
First Reading: Love the Lord with All Your Heart God
said as early as in the Old Testament: Listen, people of the covenant: The one
Lord God loves you. Love God with all your heart.
Second Reading: Christ, the Definitive High Priest Christ
is the definitive mediator and high priest, for he is the eternal Son of God,
and he has sacrificed himself totally for us. He alone can bring real communion
with God.
Gospel: No Greater Than These Two Listen, people
of the new covenant: Love the Lord God with all that is in you; remember that
love includes everyone.
Intercessions Love can hardly be commanded, yet it
ought to be the heart of all we do. Let us pray to the Father of all love for
the capacity to love him and our neighbor far and near. Let us say: R/ Lord,
make us instruments of your love.
– That the Church for which Christ died may grow
into a universal community of love which makes God’s unconditional love visible
to all people, let us pray: R/ Lord, make us instruments of your
love.
– That Christians everywhere may not be people
of legalisms and outward observances but people with a heart, who do what they
have to do and more because they are God’s children; let us pray: R/ Lord,
make us instruments of your love.
– That the nations of the world may learn to
respect and help one another and to build peace and progress not at the expense
of one another but based on justice and equitable sharing; let us pray: R/ Lord,
make us instruments of your love.
– That we may be reliable friends to those
suffering in any form; that we may lighten their burdens and help them to keep
trusting in God and people, let us pray: R/ Lord, make us
instruments of your love.
– That our anemic and dried-up love may become
rich and spontaneous, like a fresh breath of life and joy brightening the lives
of those around us and a wordless song of praise to God, let us pray: R/ Lord,
make us instruments of your love.
Loving God, we claim to belong to you and to your Son. Help
us through your Spirit of love to give to your love a human shape, that we may
make people happy and be your happy people in Christ Jesus our Lord. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts God our Father, in these
offerings of bread and wine allow us to join your Son Jesus in his perfect
sacrifice of love. Accept our heart, our life, our thoughts and words and
Intercessions, our burdens and our joys as a grateful way to respond to your
love and to bring life to our brothers and sisters. We ask this through Christ
our Lord. Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer One of heart
and voice, let us thank God for the love shown in Christ, which makes us
capable of love. Jesus’ obedience too has made us capable of giving to God a
response of love.
Invitation to the Lord’s Prayer By the power of the
Holy Spirit who dwells in our hearts, we pray to our Father in heaven: R/
Our Father…
Deliver Us Deliver us, Lord, from every evil of
selfishness and calculation and open us to your love. Keep us free from the
fear of committing ourselves in love to anyone who needs us, and let our love
for those around us be the test of the quality of our love for you. Help us to
be one in heart and soul and to be a community of service, as we wait in joyful
hope for the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom…
Invitation to Communion This is the Lamb of God who
gave up his life for us and who said: Everyone will know that you are my
disciples if you love one another as I have loved you. Happy are we to be
invited to share Jesus’ meal of love. R/ Lord, I am not worthy…
Prayer after Communion Our God and Father, we have
learned from your Son not merely to love others as we love ourselves but if
necessary more than ourselves. By the strength of this Eucharist, dispose us to
rejoice with the happy and to mourn with the sad, to cultivate the best in
ourselves and to offer it to others as a free gift. Help us never to take
Christ without people, never people without Christ, who is our Lord for
ever. R/ Amen.
Blessing Did we really need the reminder that love is
the heart of our faith, as it is the heart of all human life? Yes, if we are
aware that often, we forget that love. Perhaps the love of God is easier to
keep in a way, because God often seems far away. But our neighbor is there, with
all his irritating blemishes and habits. Let us not forget that he or she is
Christ meeting us on the road of life. May God fill us with his love and bless
us: The Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Let us go with one another the way of love of the
Lord. R/ Thanks be to God.
Commentary Listen to him! Today's text
presents Jesus in the temple, where a scribe asked him the theological
question: "What is the most important commandment?" The scribes had
discovered 613 commandments of the Law and the question was: Of these 613,
which one is the most important? Many teachers maintained that the most
important of the commandments was the observance of the Sabbath because God
himself observed this, as he rested on the seventh day after six days of
creation. But Jesus had disagreements on that. The gospel readings of last week
were all about Jesus’ confrontation with the Pharisees regarding the Law of the
Sabbath. Others believed that “not to have other gods than the only God of
Israel” was the most important. Contrary to what the scribe expected, Jesus
cites the creed of Israel which is given in the Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 6:
“Hear, O Israel!” Jesus gives a new way of understanding our relationship with
God, where the first command of the Lord is “Hear, O Israel” – ie., “Listen O
chosen people of God”. We are the chosen people of God, and we must listen to
the Word of God and allow it to transform us. Hear O Israel, Adonai is our one
God ... if you listen to him, you will keep his word.” “Love God with all your
heart, with all your soul, with all your life, with all your strength and with
all your mind.” Our entire life project has no other objective than to fulfil
the mission entrusted to us on the earth – to do the projects of God. We do not
do this because of any compulsion but rather out of love of God, who has
designed our life. The Pharisees had asked for the most important commandment,
but Jesus gives us two commandments: “To Listen” and “to love”. Then he teaches
us that the love of God is not possible without the love of our neighbour. According
to Luke’s version of this passage, there is only one commandment: 'Love God and
love your neighbour as yourself'. In the Gospel of John, in chapter 15, Jesus
says: "This is my only commandment: “love one another." In the letter
to the Romans, Paul says: 'All the commandments ... do not commit adultery, do
not kill, do not steal, they are summarized in these words: you will love your
neighbour as yourself.' How are we to live by this commandment of Jesus? First,
Listen to him! To listen to the voice of the Lord, we must resolve to travel
with him on the road from Galilee to Jerusalem. Reading Mark's Gospel is
equivalent to making this journey. It may be that having reached the last page,
one does not yet dare to offer one's life with Jesus. There is no need to be
discouraged because of this; one must resume the journey with him, starting
again from Galilee.
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3 November 2024 Mark 12:28b-34 Making the Word become flesh
in our lives In today’s Gospel, a scribe asks Jesus which commandment is the
most important. Jesus answers by citing the “Shema” from Deuteronomy 6, to
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and
strength," and adds, "Love your neighbour as yourself." Pope
Francis reflects on this dialogue, particularly noting how the scribe repeated
Jesus’ words. Pope Francis suggests this repetition teaches us something vital:
the Word of God is not just information to be heard but a message to be
repeated, internalised, and lived. The pope uses a powerful analogy, explaining
that the Word of God must be “ruminated”—chewed over and over until it becomes
part of us. This is not merely about understanding the words but allowing them
to transform our hearts. Jesus invites us to engage with God’s Word so deeply
that it begins to echo within us, shaping our actions, thoughts, and
relationships. In one of his homilies, the pope said, “The Lord is not so much
looking for skilled Scripture commentators. Instead, he is looking for
docile hearts which, welcoming his Word, allow themselves to be changed inside.
This is why it is so important to be familiar with the Gospel, to always have
it at hand – even a pocket-size Gospel in our pockets, in our purses to read
and reread, to be passionate about it. When we do this, Jesus, the Word of the
Father, enters into our hearts, he becomes intimate with us and we bear fruit
in Him,” says the pope. This requires us to constantly engage with the Gospel,
reading and rereading it so that it resonates in our conscience and directs our
daily actions. The command to love God and neighbour must be more than
theoretical; it needs to orient our entire lives. Are we loving God with all we
are? Are we doing good for our neighbours? We need to become living
translations of God’s love, making His Word flesh in our actions, just as Mary
did.
