Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, B

	Deuteronomy 6: 2-6
	Psalm 18
	Hebrews 7: 23-28
	Mark 12: 28b-34

The readings today are reflecting on the greatest of the commandments of God.  In the 
First Reading, Moses gives the core of the Law to Israel:  “Hear, O Israel!  The Lord is 
our God—the Lord, alone!  Therefore you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your 
heart and all your soul and all your strength.”  Here, of course, the word “Lord” is a 
substitution for the sacred Name (often transcribed as YHWH, the “four-letter name” 
revealed by God to Moses in the burning bush).  By saying “heart/soul/strength”’ the 
author was saying, “do this with all of you!”  We respond to this reading by singing “I 
love You, Lord, my strength!” as the refrain to the Responsorial Psalm.  The Gospel 
opens with Jesus being questioned by a scribe, “Which is the first of all the 
commandments?” In response, Jesus makes what Christians have since called ‘the 
summary of the law:’  “This is the first:  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.”  Here, Jesus combines the 
passage from Deuteronomy with another, from Leviticus 19.  In this way, He does 
something completely new:  He makes the love of God completely interconnected with 
the love of neighbor.  The Venerable Bede expounded upon this by saying:  “Neither of 
these two kinds of love is expressed with full maturity without the other, because God 
cannot be loved apart from our neighbor, nor our neighbor, apart from God….there is 
only one adequate confirmation of whole-hearted love of God—laboring steadily for the 
needy in your midst, exercising continuing care for them.”  (Homilies on the Gospels, 
2.22)

The Second Reading continues our passage through the Letter to the Hebrews.  Having 
established Jesus’ qualifications to be high priest in the previous weeks’ readings, we 
come today to the comparison and contrast between the priesthood of Jesus and that of 
the priesthood of Aaron (“the levitical priests”).  It is from here that the writer of 
“Alleluia! Sing to Jesus” took his inspiration to say:
	Thou within the veil hast entered,
	Robed in flesh, our great high priest;
	Thou on earth both priest and victim
	In the Eucharistic feast!  PTTL
  
This hymn is based on today’s Scriptures: MYM#30
Hear, O Israel, this statute:
God is one, the Lord alone!
With your heart and strength, adore Him;
Let your soul his kingdom own.
Fear the Lord and keep His statutes
That you grow and prosper more;
Hear these words which I enjoin you:
Cling to God, and sin abhor.

Just as Moses taught the people,
Jesus echoed this command,
“Love the Lord!” and then joined to it,
“Love like self the one at hand!”
Hearing this, a scribe responded,
“Well said, Rabbi!  You are right;
Loving God and loving neighbor
Far exceeds burnt off’rings’ might.”

We are given strength to do this
Through the work of our high priest,
Jesus:  innocent and holy,
He, our sacrifice and peace.
Strengthened through his selfless off’ring,
We have grace to love and serve
God alone, and love our neighbor;
Thus do we God’s law observe.

        87.87.D  
        suggested tune, Omni die dic Mariae

Propers from the Roman Gradual

Introit:  Ne derelinquas me (Ps. 38:21-22, 1)
Do not forsake me, O Lord my God,
do not be far from me and make haste to help me,
O Lord God, the strength of my salvation.
	O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger,
	do not punish me in your wrath.

Offertory:  Benedic anima mea (Ps. 103:2,5)
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits he has done for you.
He shall renew your life, and your youth shall be renewed like an eagle’s.

Communion:  Notas mihi fecisti (Ps. 16:11)
You will make me know the path of eternal life,
and you will fill me with happiness in your presence, O Lord.

alternate: Magister, quid est mandatum (Mk. 10:28b-29)
Master, what is the greatest commandment in the Law?
Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, alleluia.

Propers from the Simple Gradual

The suite of antiphons and psalms from Ordinary Time VIII 
(BFW 281–287, as well as BFW 645, 210–211, 413–414, and 123) — 
God is true to God’s name, “I will be with you” — is especially appropriate.

Entrance: BFW 259 (Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me) 
    or BFW 486 (Listen to my cry for help . . .)
Response: Alleluia psalm BFW 488
Communion: BFW 553 (My body will rest in hope)