Daily Gospel Reflection for March 4, 2016 - Day of Abstinence

Today's Gospel: Mark 12, 28-34

At my first reading of this Gospel, it struck me funny that the scribe was affirming Jesus’ answer on His own commandment; little does this fellow really know who he is talking to! But then I got to thinking; it had been a long, hard road for Jesus to get through to His twelve disciples’ thick heads, at times, much of His teachings due to their free will. So for this scribe to have such a clear, open-hearted, and firm understanding of the commandments, no wonder Jesus was very pleased! This scribe not only believed these two great commandments to be of God, he also knew how they basically rendered burnt offerings and sacrifices as base! Clearly this fellow knew and accepted this new way of thinking and proved that without a doubt to Jesus in his own words.

The kingdom of God is close at hand for this man and it can be for us as well. However, free will and self-comfort are easier to appease than reaching out past our noses; but if we open our minds and truly acknowledge that God is the one and only God to believe in, and that loving our neighbor as ourselves is the way we should live, plain and simple, the kingdom of God will be in our grasp as well.

Ponder:

The scribe was very confident in his understanding of the teaching. Is there a teaching that you feel confident about? How hard are Christ’s teachings to apply to daily life?

Pray:

Dear Jesus, please open our hearts to your teachings, help us to put you first in everything that we do throughout the day. Also, we pray that our love for you will shine through to everyone that we meet. Amen

Copyright 2016 Elizabeth Weidner

Elizabeth "Ebeth" Weidner is a Master Catechist writing for CatholicMom for the past 6 years, along with a number of other online and printed resources. A former Catholic homeschooling mom, she and her scientist husband have three amazing young adults that call them mom and dad! She writes on her blog, A Catholic Mom Climbing the Pillars.