31st Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B. By Tobe Eze

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B.

FIRST READING
Deuteronomy 6:2—6

SECOND READING
Hebrews 7:23—28

GOSPEL
Mark 12:28b—34

THEME: OBEDIENCE IS THE WAY TO LIFE.

In the year 2016, I was at a place called Umualor in Isi-uzo Local Government Area of Enugu State. The place is a swampy area. During rainy season, everywhere is filled with water. One day I went to the Parish Priest to collect his motorcycle to go somewhere within the parish. He told me to follow the place others have been following, no matter how I think the place is deep and there are many other dried places to follow, I should not make that mistake. When I left, I reached a place. The type of hole other Motorcycles follow, I was thinking that it was too deep for me to follow. I looked around and I saw another place I thought was dry. When I tried following there, my motorcycle sank in, when I stepped my feet on the ground to help the situation, my feet also sank into the mud. The thing destroyed my sandals. Why this story?  Had it been I obeyed the Parish Priest, I would not have suffered that. Continue Reading..........................

In the first reading, Moses is telling us to fear God and obey him. God through Moses gave his commandments that are ten in number but they cover all that we can think of on this earth. Those commandments are divided into two, divine part and human part.

The second reading, talking about the type of Christ’s priesthood. As a way of extension, the reading added, Therefore, he is always able to save those who approach God through him, since he lives forever to make intercession for them. How do we approach him now?  The gospel has the perfect answer to it.

You must love your God with all your hearts and love your neighbour also, is the central message of the gospel of today. How can we love God with all our hearts?

To love God is to be manifested through the love we show to our fellow human being and what he/she has. Through St. John in his first letter he said, how can we say we love God that we do not see and hate humans that we see (1John 4:20)? We must start from our fellow human beings. After the first three commandments, the rest directed us to our fellow human being.

Respect your parents, some of us no longer count that one as God’s commandment. They treat their parents like house animals. Every other commandments emphasis on human being.

Love is the only way out. Where there is love, there will be respect for parents. Where there is love, there will be no killing of any type. Where there is love there will be no fornication or adultery for they don’t show love. Where there is love, there will be no stealing of any type. No false witness, no envy and there will be no lustful feelings for your neighbours' wives. All these evils happen because there is no love of our fellow human being. When we must have shown love to our fellow human being, showing love to God will not be a difficult task again for us. We can then have God as our only God, not using his name in vain and keeping his day of obligation holy for him.

Let us obey God by showing our neighbours love which implies obeying God’s commandments. They are meant for us to obey. They are not much, it is all about the horizontal and vertical love of God which he represented very well on the cross. Jesus Christ combined the two ways of love on the cross. As Christians, we have to do the same by loving God and our fellow human being through obedience to the commandments of God. THANKS AND HAPPY SUNDAY.