WelCom November 2024
Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time – Mark 12:28-34
28 One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, ‘Which is the first of all the commandments?
29 Jesus replied, ‘The first is this: Listen, Israel! The Lord our God is the one only Lord! 30 You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
31 The second is this: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.’
32 The scribe said to him, ‘Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, “He is One and there is no other than he.” And 33 “to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself” is far more important than any burnt offering or sacrifice.’
34And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And after that no one dared to question him anymore.
‘You are not far from the kingdom of God’ Mark 12: 34
Fr Patrick Bridgman
Often when people who are Church shy – or who may never have entered a church before – come to the doors of a church, they remark, ‘If I go in the roof will fall in!’ Naturally the phrase is intended to induce merriment in those nearby who are listening, and yet isn’t there both sadness and misunderstanding in their words?
Sadness for us who are at home in churches by the thought that God’s house would be anything but a place where others find a welcoming home. And misunderstanding for those who may utter such words, for God’s outstretched arms are always open to them, waiting to warmly embrace them.
Locating love of God in our love of others and ourselves is a radical interconnection which Jesus proclaims. Yes, the scriptures he had heard in the Synagogue of Nazareth and in the Temple of Jerusalem spoke of the Shema, and also of the call to love neighbour. Yet it is the ‘and’, the all-important link between both that sheds light on human longing and God’s desire for beloved humanity.
The scribes and the pharisees were not usually able to maintain clear insight when confronted by Jesus’ challenging words and images. His parables and teachings could be seen to be subversive, up turning the accepted religious thinking of the day. Yet this scribe was able to listen, to understand, and Jesus was able to respond, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’
I wonder how people would respond if when we recognise in them the movement of God’s spirit we were repeat to them the words that Jesus spoke to the scribe? There are so many examples of people who Karl Rahner [German Jesuit priest and theologian] would refer to as ‘anonymous Christians’. People who love deeply, who seek for the good of others, who put the needs of the other before themselves. When hearing from you of their closeness to the kingdom of God could a door open? Yes, a door to the church which yearns for their presence!
Fr Patrick Bridgman is Cathedral Administrator, Metropolitan Cathedral of the Sacred Heart.
“And when Jesus saw that the man had answered with understanding, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And after that no one dared to question him anymore.”
– Mark 12: 34