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Sunday, October 31, 2021

With All I Have


The WORD today reminds me that I should love God with all that I have. 

They say that if you won't do your best, don't do it at all. Just as important as what you do is how you do it. You should give your best. You should give your all - no matter how simple what you are doing is. Doing your best means you give your all - all you have, all you've got. You cannot control the outcome of everything, but you can control how you do it. You can control how much effort you give as you do it. This is true in different things in life, but especially in loving God. 

God deserves our best, and we should give him that. We should give God our everything. 

In the gospel and in the first reading, we see how God wants us to love him. Jesus wants us to love God with everything - all our heart, soul, mind and strength. He wants our whole being. He wants all of us, including all our imperfections. He wants us to love him and offer him everything, because only then can we experience his great love and power. He wants us to love him and surrender to him everything. We need not be holy as we love him. He accepts us as we are. And as we love him and give him everything, he will fill us with everything of his. And as this happen, we will feel his love and power and we will be transformed to be more and more like him. 

Loving God with all we've got is not easy. But it surely is necessary for us to realize and experience all his love as well. And still in the gospel, we see the second greatest commandment and a concrete way if how we can love God - by loving our neighbor. We should concretize and live our love for God. We should make it real by loving others. We should make it real by being God's ambassadors here on earth and by making God's love more real and more alive, especially during this pandemic. 

Do I love God? Is he first in my life or do I have more important priorities? How do I live my love for him? Do I serve him through others? Do I give him the best I can, in all aspects of my life? Is my life pleasing to Him? How do I show my love for God through others, especially during this pandemic?

May we give God our everything, and make his love more real and alive in this world.

Father God,
Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live. Thank you for another Sunday. Thank you for your reminder of how I should love you. Lord, i am sorry for the times i don't love and serve you with all I have. Sorry for holding back my actions for you. Sorry for giving excuses - that I'm busy, that i'm tired, that I do other good things anyway. Help me surrender to you. Help me love you, not the way i want to love you, but the way you want me to love you. As I surrender, as I love you, I ask that you make me more and more like you. Help me make your love more alive and more real in this world as I love others. May you be pleased with me, my actions, and how I love you.  Amen.

Blessed Sunday!

In Christ,
-g-

Ps
See related reflection:

Daily Readings

Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 152

Reading I

Dt 6:2-6

Moses spoke to the people, saying:
"Fear the LORD, your God,
and keep, throughout the days of your lives,
all his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you,
and thus have long life.
Hear then, Israel, and be careful to observe them,
that you may grow and prosper the more,
in keeping with the promise of the LORD, the God of your fathers,
to give you a land flowing with milk and honey.

"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! 
Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God,
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your strength. 
Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today."

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51

R. (2)    I love you, Lord, my strength.
I love you, O LORD, my strength,
    O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
My God, my rock of refuge,
    my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,
    and I am safe from my enemies.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
The LORD lives!  And blessed be my rock!
    Extolled be God my savior.
You who gave great victories to your king
    and showed kindness to your anointed.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.

Reading II

Heb 7:23-28

Brothers and sisters:
The levitical priests were many
because they were prevented by death from remaining in office,
but Jesus, because he remains forever,
has a priesthood that does not pass away.
Therefore, he is always able to save those who approach God through him, 
since he lives forever to make intercession for them.

It was fitting that we should have such a high priest:
holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners,
higher than the heavens.
He has no need, as did the high priests,
to offer sacrifice day after day,
first for his own sins and then for those of the people;
he did that once for all when he offered himself. 
For the law appoints men subject to weakness to be high priests,
but the word of the oath, which was taken after the law,
appoints a son,
who has been made perfect forever.

Alleluia

Jn 14:23

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord;
and my father will love him and we will come to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mk 12:28b-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.


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