Today's Gospel: Mark 12:28-34

Jesus does not only reiterate God's most important Commandments in this Gospel. He also assures the young man who questions him, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God."

Jesus is not telling the wise young man that you can get to the Kingdom of God all by yourself, because you can't. Nobody can. But we can all bring ourselves close to the Kingdom by living out those two great Commandments to the best of our ability. We can trust God to take it from there.

We can draw near, living our faith by loving God and our neighbor. As Jesus makes clear, love is greater than sacrifice.

We can draw near through the sacraments if we humbly accept the grace they give us.

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Ponder:

What can I do today to draw nearer to God's Kingdom?

Pray:

Lord, help me today to draw near to your Kingdom by loving You with my whole heart, soul, mind and strength and by loving my neighbor as myself.

 

Copyright 2017 Barb Szyszkiewicz, OFS

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About the Author

Barb Szyszkiewicz

Barb Szyszkiewicz

Barb Szyszkiewicz, senior editor at CatholicMom.com, is a wife, mom of 3 young adults, and a Secular Franciscan. Barb enjoys writing, cooking, and reading, and is a music minister at her parish. Find her blog at FranciscanMom and her family’s favorite recipes with nutrition information at Cook and Count. Barb is the author of The Handy Little Guide to Prayer and The Handy Little Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours, available from Our Sunday Visitor.