You are not far from the kingdom of God

Hos 14, 2-20; Ps 80; Mk 12,28-34
29 MARCH

Jesus is perennially guided, enlightened and supported by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. He sees with the eyes of the Spirit of God and He answers according to the heart of each one. In the Gospel according to Luke, the scribe asks him about the first commandment of the Law, but to test him. Jesus does not answer. He lets the scribe be the one to give the answer. Then, to the next question of explanation, Jesus narrates the parable of the man that stumbled upon the brigands. The heart of the scribe does not go sincerely. Jesus answers with caution.

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test him and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.” He replied to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?” Jesus replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveller who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.’ Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbour to the robbers’ victim?” He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise” (Lk 10,25-27).

Instead, in the Gospel according to Mark, the scribe presents himself to Jesus with a good heart. He asks to know, not to put to the test. Jesus answers him with great simplicity, using Deuteronomy. He links the commandment to God and the commandment to man in an inseparable and indissoluble way. God is loved with all the heart, with all the soul, with all the mind and with all the strength. The neighbour is loved as everyone loves himself. Jesus omits to say – it was neither the moment nor the circumstance to reaffirm it – that the law of true love is one. It is the will of God manifested in his Word. Nothing is left to man’s will. Even the concrete ways are established by God. It means that if one wants to love God and neighbour, he must obey every Word that has come out of the mouth of God. Where there is no obedience to the Word, there is no love. Instead, today, abomination, iniquity, wickedness, evilness, cruelty of heart and mind are declared love; and even worse, all these things are attributed to the will of God, to the dignity of man and to the inalienable right of the human person. The limits of evil are well surpassed. When you already come to this it is the point of non-return. The Lord must intervene with powerful action if we want to bring humanity back to the truth of good, love and justice.

One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, 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 neighbour 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 neighbour 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 sacrifice, the holocaust that the Lord asks is only one: the sacrifice and holocaust of obedience to his Word without any pause, break and interruption. There are no reasons to disobey. This is why the mind and the heart must be sacrificed. We deprive ourselves of them, to give vigour of Law to the heart and to the thoughts of God. Perfect holocaust.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints, help us to offer this holocaust daily.