Daily Reflection: 21st Day of Lent

Today’s Gospel is Mark 12:28-34:

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
“Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus replied, “The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.”
The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
He is One and there is no other than he.
And to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding,
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

The old testament had the 10 commandments. The new testament has two important ones. First, love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Second, love your neighbor as yourself. Pretty simple. Not always easy to do, but if we strive for that perfection that we keep going back to, it is what we must do.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for your compassion and your love. Help us to love you with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength. Help us to love our neighbors and our enemies that we might be perfect.
In the name of Jesus the Christ,
Amen

Question for reflection: Why do you think these two commandments are so important?