Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mass Readings

• First Reading Deuteronomy 6:2-6
• Responsorial Psalm Psalm 18:2-3, 3-4, 47 and 51
• Second Reading Hebrews 7:23-28
• Gospel Mark 12:28b-34

Open the Mass Readings on USCCB.org →

Step Into the Story

“Hear, O Israel!” The Shema of Deuteronomy 6 was recited by devout Jews morning and evening. They took literally the command to bind the words on their arms and foreheads and write them on their doorposts; leather tefillin with tiny parchment scrolls inside, likely from around the time of Christ, have turned up in the caves at Qumran. Josephus counts twenty-eight high priests between Herod’s reign and the Temple’s fall, a turnover worthy of the Roman emperors.

1. 13th c. B.C.The Law given at Sinai
2. c. 20 B.C.Herod begins the Temple
3. 14 A.D.Tiberius becomes emperor
4. 26 A.D.Pilate becomes prefect
5. This week’s scene: c. 30 A.D.The first commandment of all

Go up into the Temple courts in Jesus’ last week, a few days before Passover, which most scholars date to 30 A.D. Stand where you can see past the inner gates to the great altar of unhewn stone, its fire never allowed to go out. Watch the priests at work. Smell the smoke of the burnt offerings, the blood and the burning fat. Hear the bleating of the lambs and rams being led up.

All day the questions have come: the tax, the resurrection. Now a scribe who has listened and liked what he heard steps forward, alone, with an honest question: which commandment is first of all? Stand near him, the altar smoke drifting over the court, and listen. Before the end, he will say something remarkable about all these sacrifices.

Encounter the Lord

Listen to the scribe’s question. It is honest, and Jesus answers with the prayer every Jew knew by heart: “Hear, O Israel.” The first commandment begins not with doing but with listening.

God asks for all of you: heart, soul, mind, strength. Not a percentage, not leftovers. And love of God cannot be separated from love of neighbor. The scribe sees this and Jesus praises him: “You are not far from the kingdom.” Not far is good, but not yet there. The step that remains is to follow Jesus Himself, who loves God and neighbor perfectly and who, as our eternal High Priest, makes such love possible in us. Every commandment is a response to love that came first.

Pray the Shema slowly each morning this week. Then ask: what part of me am I holding back from God?

Know Your Faith

The Commandments, a Response of Love

The commandments take on their full meaning within the covenant. Moral life is a response to the Lord’s loving initiative (CCC 2061-2062). Jesus summed up the commandments in the double commandment of love (CCC 2055).

The First Commandment

The first commandment summons us to believe in God, to hope in Him and to love Him above all else (CCC 2083-2086). Adoration is the first act of the virtue of religion (CCC 2096).

Holy Orders

Christ is the one priest; the ministerial priesthood makes present His unique priesthood without diminishing it (CCC 1544-1545). Through ordained ministers, the presence of Christ as Head of the Church is made visible (CCC 1549).

Love of Neighbor

Love of neighbor is inseparable from love of God (CCC 1822-1823, 2196). Charity is the soul of the holiness to which all are called (CCC 826).