Scripture Scribbles: November 3, 2024

the Gospel

Mark 12:28b-34

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.

the scribble

“Karen Mary, do you love Me? Would you be willing to die for me?” Jesus asked me a second time. I felt paralyzed in fear, thinking of all the martyrs brutally tortured for this beautiful, sacrificing, self-giving love. “I don’t know,” I weakly and tearfully replied.“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13 

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, 
with all your mind,
and with all your strength … You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

What is this love? “Love is patient, love is kind … [love] rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” 1 Cor 13:4-8 Love makes us willing to suffer for the sake of another. Love is faith in action. If we want to love God, we need to love others. God is love.

“Karen Mary, do you love Me?” He asked me a third and final time. Lord, give me the grace, give me the heart to love, sacrifice. “And hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” Romans 5:15

Holy Spirit, pour your divine love into our hearts to empower us to love perfectly as you love. Mary, who loved God more than anyone else, we entrust our hearts to you; teach us to love.

Today’s devotion was written by Karen Molvar