Love the Lord your God ....
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.
- Mark 12

Ninth Week of Ordinary Time

Sunday in the US is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. For the rest of the world, it is the Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time. “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.”

The Friday after the Body and Blood of Christ is always the Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, with its own special readings, followed on Saturday by Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The first readings this week are from the pastoral letters, The Second Letter of Peter and The Second Letter to Timothy.

Mark's Gospel offers stories of how Jesus is in the midst of a struggle with the religious leaders in Jerusalem who do not like them. He tells them the Parable of the tenant farmers, telling them that the stone rejected by builders has become the cornerstone. They almost arrest him. His opponents try to ensnare Jesus with question about the temple tax, but he isn't trapped by them. When they question him about the resurrection, Jesus tells a parable which teaches that God is the God of the living. When asked which is the first commandment, Jesus gives two - highlighting the equal importance of love of God and neighbor. Jesus is both Son of David and Messiah and Lord. Jesus warns of those who abuse widows on spiritual pretexts and tells his disciples to notice the widow who gave from her poverty.

Sunday is the Tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time. "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."

Daily Prayer This Week

The pastoral letters set the tone. Writing to Timothy, for example, Paul is eloquent in urging him to be faithful - even to fan what he has learned into a flame. This is a good context for us to return to this season, fresh from the graces of Pentecost. The gifts of the Spirit have been given us. We can ignore them, bury them, or use them with very little life and energy. We can also fan them into a fire that gives courage and hope to others.

As we wake each morning this week, and prepare to be focused when we go about our daily tasks, we can ask the Spirit of Jesus to “enkindle within us the fire of your love.” Each day, we can be more and more concrete about where we need help, grace, “fire” to heal and gather others together and be a source of unity and peace which simply aren't a part of the “world's way” of doing things.

Jesus faced terrible conflict in his final days on this earth. That's consoling for us who experience conflict in our day to day experience. This week, let's ask the Spirit to be with us in the difficult times we face. Let's ask that we might not surrender our peace. Let's ask that we be able to trust our Lord when we are asked to love others and give up “my way” of doing things, loving God and our neighbor equally.