“May the Lord bless us all the days of our lives.”
Psalm 128
Readings
Genesis 2:18-24
Hebrews 2:9-11
Mark 10:2-16
Reflection
Sister Judith Bloxham, OSB
In the beginning of the Old Testament in the Book of Genesis, we are invited to reflect on the “birth” of human creation. God does not wish Adam to be solitary and in the creation of Eve, God reminds us that his human creatures are created to live together. This is a poignant reminder that we are called to live as “community,” as family, in imitation of the Blessed Trinity. Our God is the ultimate expression of loving community as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
In the Letter to the Hebrews, we are also reminded that Christ became human in his life, his suffering and death. He leads us all by being, and living, as the perfect model for our own individual human lives. He is not ashamed to call us his own “brothers and sisters.”
In the Gospel for today, Jesus finds himself in another situation where he responds to the Pharisees regarding the permanence of marriage in the Jewish, and Roman culture of His time. We all need to be reminded of God’s greatest commandment. We are called to love God with our whole hearts, our whole selves; and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Whether we are married, living in a community, living singly in a neighborhood or multiple living complex, how may we each individually live out this commandment in our daily lives? Jesus also reminds us of the importance of children and how they are a model for us. Just as a child “…can only receive, can only respond spontaneously to love and affection,” and has “no claim to achievement and nothing they can claim proudly as their own.” *
*Fr. Walter Burghardt, Lovely in Eyes Not His
From the Rule of St. Benedict
“…as we progress in (our) way of life and in faith, we shall run on the path of God’s commandments, our hearts overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love… Let them prefer nothing whatever to the love of Christ, and may he bring us all together to everlasting life.” Prologue 49; 72:11
Gospel Acclamation
“If we love one another, God remains in us and his love is brought to perfection in us.”
1 John 4:12