A Homily – The Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

First Reading – Deuteronomy 6:2-6

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 17(18):2-4,47,51

Second Reading – Hebrews 7:23-28

Gospel Acclamation – John 6:63, 68

Alternative Acclamation – John 14:23

The Gospel According to Mark 12:28-34

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

God is one, and we are one in God...we are one with God.

Love God with all your heart and all your soul, with all your strength of mind…and love your neighbor as yourself. This is the whole of the law and the sum of wisdom as taught by the prophets.

Love your neighbor as you love yourself, love the stranger among you…love your adversary as well.

The power of love is inexhaustible.

Do for another what you would have done for you, and do not to another what you would not have done to you; these are the golden rules.

Be humble in your comportment, and just toward the least among you, regard them with humility in the hour of their need.

This is the way.

Reflect on the psalm for today; it is a psalm of thanksgiving, it is also a psalm of vanity. The psalmist gives credit to God for saving him, but it was not God who did the work, rescue did not arrive by divine favor.

God did not hear his voice, alone among all of the others, and fly from the temple to save him...he saved himself, or he was saved by his allies; it may even have been just a matter of chance.

God does not favor one child over another, not one family, not one tribe, not one nation, not one sect. God loves all of God’s children equally, no matter the state of their sinfulness, whether they live in open rebellion to the divine plan, or rest in the peace that is found along the way, the peace of loving mercy.

God, the creator of the universe is not like Zeus or Jupiter, Indra or Thor. God does not step onto the battlefield, shoot arrows and hurl lightning at his foes...nor yours.

It is foolish to think so, and false to present Jesus as some kind of high priest to one of these.

Jesus was not a priest, the priestly system and the cult of sacrifice were corrupt, both in concept and in practice.

Our salvation and a right relationship with God do not depend on rituals of atonement, or paying taxes to a temple, and no human being has need of an intermediary to act on their behalf with God.

Every law related to ritual purity is a part of a shakedown, just one long con.

This is not to say that making restitution to a community for harms that a person has brought to it is unwise or that it does not have restorative value; it can and often does, but it is to say that your spiritual well-being and relationship with God are never what is at stake. No priest, at the church or the temple has the power or even a role in mediating that.

Be mindful.

Here is the gospel truth:

God loves you, and you are saved. You are not saved for anything that you have done, you did not earn it, you are saved because God loves you.

The promise of salvation is not that you will be spared from suffering and torment in hell, or that when you are judged God will forgive you.

The good news is that God has already forgiven you; you are already saved.

God has prepared you, and everyone for eternal life. Believe it!

Let the goodness of the promise flow through you now and start living this life as if the promise were true.

Know this.

We are not called to believe in the idea that Jesus is this or that, the Holy One of God, we are called to act on the principles of his faith, to live lives of charity and service to one another other.

Remember.

The grace of God is not transactional; love fosters love.

Love abounds, and God is always with you.

Listen!

God is one, and we are one in God...we are one with God.

Love God with all your heart and all your soul, with all your strength of mind…and love your neighbor as yourself. This is the whole of the law and the sum of wisdom as taught by the prophets.

Love your neighbor as you love yourself, love the stranger among you…love your adversary as well.

The power of love is inexhaustible.

Do for another what you would have done for you, and do not to another what you would not have done to you; these are the golden rules.

This is the way, it is the Golden Rule.

We are all moving along the way…imperfect as we are.

First Reading – Deuteronomy 6:2-6

You Shall Love the Lord Your God with All Your Heart

Moses said to the people: ‘If you fear the Lord your God all the days of your life and if you keep all his laws and commandments which I lay on you, you will have a long life, you and your son and your grandson. Listen then, Israel, keep and observe what will make you prosper and give you great increase, as the Lord the God of your fathers has promised you, giving you a land where milk and honey flow.

  ‘Listen, Israel: the Lord our God is the one Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. Let these words I urge on you today be written on your heart.’

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 17(18):2-4,47,51

Thanksgiving for Salvation and Victory

Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.

Thanksgiving for salvation and victory

I love you, Lord, my strength.

I will love you, Lord, my strength:

  Lord, you are my foundation and my refuge,

  you set me free.

My God is my help: I will put my hope in him,

  my protector, my sign of salvation,

  the one who raises me up.

I will call on the Lord – praise be to his name –

  and I will be saved from my enemies.

The waves of death flooded round me,

  the torrents of Belial tossed me about,

the cords of the underworld wound round me,

  death’s traps opened before me.

In my distress I called on the Lord,

  I cried out to my God:

from his temple he heard my voice,

  my cry to him came to his ears.

 

The earth moved and shook,

  at the coming of his anger the roots of the mountains rocked

  and were shaken.

Smoke rose from his nostrils,

  consuming fire came from his mouth,

  from it came forth flaming coals.

He bowed down the heavens and descended,

  storm clouds were at his feet.

He rode on the cherubim and flew,

  he travelled on the wings of the wind.

He made dark clouds his covering;

  his dwelling-place, dark waters and clouds of the air.

The cloud-masses were split by his lightnings,

  hail fell, hail and coals of fire.

The Lord thundered from the heavens,

  the Most High let his voice be heard,

  with hail and coals of fire.

He shot his arrows and scattered them,

  hurled thunderbolts and threw them into confusion.

The depths of the oceans were laid bare,

  the foundations of the globe were revealed,

at the sound of your anger, O Lord,

  at the onset of the gale of your wrath.

He reached from on high and took me up,

  he lifted me from the many waters.

He snatched me from my powerful enemies,

  from those who hate me, for they were too strong for me.

They attacked me in my time of trouble,

  but the Lord was my support.

He led me to the open spaces,

  he was my deliverance, for he held me in favour.

The Lord rewards me according to my uprightness,

  he repays me according to the purity of my hands,

for I have kept to the paths of the Lord

  and have not departed wickedly from my God.

For I keep all his decrees in my sight,

  and I will not reject his judgements;

I am stainless before him,

  I have kept myself away from evil.

And so the Lord has rewarded me according to my uprightness,

  according to the purity of my hands in his sight.

You will be holy with the holy,

  kind with the kind,

with the chosen you will be chosen,

  but with the crooked you will show your cunning.

For you will bring salvation to a lowly people

  but make the proud ashamed.

For you light my lamp, O Lord;

  my God brings light to my darkness.

For with you I will attack the enemy’s squadrons;

  with my God I will leap over their wall.

Amen.

You, O Lord, are my lamp, my God who lightens my darkness.

Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.

 

Second Reading – Hebrews 7:23-28

Christ, Because He Remains Forever, Can Never Lose His Priesthood

There used to be a great number of priests under the former covenant, because death put an end to each one of them; but this one, because he remains for ever, can never lose his priesthood. It follows, then, that his power to save is utterly certain, since he is living for ever to intercede for all who come to God through him.

  To suit us, the ideal high priest would have to be holy, innocent and uncontaminated, beyond the influence of sinners, and raised up above the heavens; one who would not need to offer sacrifices every day, as the other high priests do for their own sins and then for those of the people, because he has done this once and for all by offering himself. The Law appoints high priests who are men subject to weakness; but the promise on oath, which came after the Law, appointed the Son who is made perfect for ever.

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 6:63, 68

Alleluia, alleluia!

Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life; you have the message of eternal life.

Alleluia!

 

Alternative Acclamation – John 14:23

Alleluia, alleluia!

Jesus said: ‘If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him.’

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Mark 12:28-34

'You Are Not Far From the Kingdom of God'

 

One of the scribes came up to Jesus and put a question to him, ‘Which is the first of all the commandments?’ Jesus replied, ‘This is the first: Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the one Lord, and you must 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 must love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.’ The scribe said to him, ‘Well spoken, Master; what you have said is true: that he is one and there is no other. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself, this is far more important than any holocaust or sacrifice.’ Jesus, seeing how wisely he had spoken, said, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And after that no one dared to question him any more.

 

A Homily – The Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)