Gospel
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.
What more do we need to hear? We who call ourselves followers of Christ? We are asked if we believe in Jesus Christ and we say yes of course I believe. We say it as readily as the scribe embraces the commandments Jesus presented.
But to believe in Jesus Christ means we live by these two commandments for they are what the Ten Commandments are based on and all blessings flow through them. We find our right place in this world and the next when we embrace them with all our might.
It is so simple and clear and direct.
We have nothing to fear and nothing to know but that these two commandments hold all the promises of the one true God.
We only have to move from one who just says I believe to one who is striving and fervent in their desire to live that belief daily. Then comes his love and joy and peace.
And we find ourselves on the way of Jesus Christ and life is so much better and our heart is filled with joy.
Deacon Tony Pynes 
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