Friday, June 05, 2020 - Ninth week of Ordinary Time - Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 12, 35-37 - If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, says the Lord; my Father will love him, and we will come to him.

In the Temple, Jesus was teaching. Many of those present were interested in his teaching and listened with joy. In our first lesson, hearing the word of God should bring joy. Hearing the word of God is neither depressing nor distressing. Also, if we want our lives to change, if we want our hearts to be filled with joy, let us go to church and listen to the Word of God. Or if we can't go to church for a good reason, let's take the Bible and read. But the reality is that sometimes people go to church without it having an impact on their lives, because they just hear it and they don't listen. There is a difference: he who hears does not remember, but he who listens remembers and lives. The people who came to listen to Jesus had hearts full of joy.

So what is Jesus' teaching here?

He raises the question: How can the scribes say that Christ is the son of David when David calls him his master? This is to say that the scribes themselves, specialists in the Scriptures, still do not know who Christ really is, unless God has given them faith to know Him. Let us thank God for the gift of this faith. So here, the teaching that Jesus wants to transmit is that He is God. Let us first note that the Gospel according to Saint Mark, from beginning to end, always answers the question of who Jesus Christ is? In chapter 15, the answer is given in its fullness: He is indeed the Son of God. However, this does not exclude him from being the descendant of David. He was before everything, but He took flesh and came down to us. Therefore, as God, He is not far from us, so we must always try to stay close to Him.