First Reading: (Hosea 14:1–9)
Responsorial Psalm: (Psalm 81)
Response: I am the Lord your God; listen to my voice.
Gospel: (Mark 12:28–34)
Reflection
Our lives on earth and our going to heaven depend on one thing only-love.
I repeat: our lives on earth and our going to heaven depend on one thing only, and that is love. It is a question of how well and how much we loved, how well and how much we loved God, and how well and how much we loved our neighbors.
Beloved, all the prayers, the vigils, the novenas, the Stations of the Cross, all the Masses we attend, the pilgrimages we make, the church groups we belong to, the alms we give, the harvest thanksgivings, even becoming priests, bishops, or religious-God will ask all of us one question on the Day of Judgment.
Gospel of Matthew 25:31–46
Did you love?
How much love did you show to God through others?
How many thirsty people did you give water?
How many hungry people did you feed?
How many naked people did you clothe?
How many prisoners did you visit?
How many sick people did you visit?
How many people in error did you counsel?
How many did you pray for?
How many dead did you bury?
These are the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.
Beloved, that is all. The rest is commentary.
When we examine the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, we see they are all about love, love of God and love of neighbor.
Whether you are a priest, a bishop, a lay faithful, or a religious; whether you belong to church groups or not, it is all about love.
All the prayers we say, all the money we donate in church, all the church activities we attend, if these things do not lead us to love God and others, we are wasting our time.
Consider the words of First Epistle to the Corinthians 13.
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, if I am a prayer warrior who can move mountains, if I am a great miracle worker—but I have no love, I am an empty gong making noise.”
For there are three things that last:
Faith
Hope
Love
And the greatest of these is love.
The same message appears in Epistle of James 2:17:
Faith without works is dead.
We may claim to have great faith, faith that moves mountains. But if that faith does not produce love and good works, that faith is useless.
Enough of demonstrations of faith.
Where is forgiveness?
Where is love for God?
Where is love for others?
Where is love even for our enemies?
Someone may pray loudly, speak in tongues, and claim spiritual power—yet cannot give water to a thirsty person or forgive someone who offended them. What use is that spirituality?
God is not moved by empty demonstrations.
The question whose answer will take us to heaven is simple:
Did you love God? Did you love others, even your enemies?
Remember the story of the Good Samaritan. Love is the essence of the Gospel.
That is why in today's Gospel Jesus says the first and greatest commandment is love. Everything else is commentary.
To love is to keep God's commandments. As First Epistle of John teaches, we cannot claim to love God and yet refuse to keep His commandments.
If we truly love God:
We will worship only Him.
We will not take His name in vain.
We will keep the Sabbath holy.
If we truly love our neighbors as ourselves:
We will honor our parents.
We will not kill.
We will not commit adultery.
We will not steal.
We will not bear false witness.
We will not covet what belongs to others.
Think about how much we love ourselves. We want good food, good clothing, good homes, good cars. We do not want anyone to hurt us.
So Jesus says: Love your neighbor the same way.
What you do not like, do not do to others.
What you want for yourself, do for others.
If we love our neighbors as we love ourselves:
We will not destroy their reputation.
We will not harm their lives.
We will not steal from them.
We will not lie about them.
We will not desire what belongs to them.
Beloved, you see it clearly:
Love God. Love your neighbor. Full stop.
That is the first and greatest commandment.
Even Jesus said love is greater than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.
Let us love, beloved, because love is the greatest.
If we do not love, we will never enter heaven.
That is why when the scribe answered correctly, Jesus said to him:
“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
Love God.
Love your neighbor.
Amen 🙏
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