You are so great and you do wonders: you alone are God and Lord! love for God cannot be separated from love for others. We bless the Lord, who invites us to his righteous paths.

First Reading: Hosea 14:2-10 Reading of Hosea's prophecy – Thus says the Lord God: 2“Return, Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have fallen into your sin. 3All of you, find words and return to the Lord; say to him: 'Deliver us from all evil and accept this good that we offer, the fruit of our lips. 4Assyria will not save us; we do not want to ride our horses, we will no longer call the products of our hands ‘our gods’; in you the orphan will find mercy’. 5I will heal their wickedness and it will be easy for me to love them; my anger has turned away from them. 6I will be like dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily and take root like plants in Lebanon. 7Its branches will spread; its splendor will be like that of the olive tree and its perfume like that of Lebanon. 8They will again sit in my shadow and cultivate wheat, and they will flourish like the vine, whose fame is equal to that of the wine of Lebanon. 9What else has Ephraim to do with idols? I am the one who serves him and watches over him. I am like an evergreen cypress: your fruit comes from me. 10Let the wise man understand these words, let the good understanding reflect on them! The ways of the Lord are straight, and the righteous will walk in them, while the wicked stumble and fall there.” - Word of the Lord. Responsorial Psalm: 80(81) Hear, my people, for I am your God! 1. Behold, I hear a voice I do not know: / “I have relieved your back of its burden, / heavy baskets I have taken from your hands. / In anguish you cried to me, and I saved you. – R. 2. I spoke to you from a thundering cloud, / and by the waters of Meriba I tested you. / Listen, my people, because I will warn you! / Israel, ah! if you wanted to listen to me. – R. 3. There is no strange god in your midst, / nor do you worship an unknown god! / For I am your God and your Lord, / who plucked you out of the land of Egypt. – R. 4. I wish my people would listen to me! / May Israel always walk in my paths! / I would give him the flower of wheat / and I would satisfy him with the honey that comes out of the rock.” – R. Gospel: Mark 12,28-34 Glory to you, Lord Jesus, / firstborn from the dead! Convert, the Lord tells us, / the Kingdom of God is near! (Mt 4,17) – R. Proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Mark – At that time, 28a scribe approached Jesus and asked: “Which is the first of all the commandments?”c29Jesus replied: “The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord. 30You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength! 31The second commandment is: You shall love your neighbor as yourself! There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32The master of the Law said to Jesus, “Very well, Master! In fact, it is as you said: he is the only God and there is no other besides him. 33To love Him with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength and to love your neighbor as yourself is better than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently and said, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And no one else had the courage to ask Jesus questions. – Word of salvation. Reflection: By observing how Jesus appropriately interpreted Scripture, a legal expert seeks a solution to a much-debated issue. Among the large number of precepts, which, in fact, is the most important for God according to the tradition of Israel? Jesus, with precision and cadence, reminds the people of Israel that their only Lord is God, and not the leaders who exploit the people. In the Old Covenant, there was not just one commandment, but two, as love for God was inseparable from love for others. You cannot honor God by ignoring human beings. These two commandments favored the creation of a society of equals. His practice was preparation for the full reality of the Messiah, who will raise the level of love for others: “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12).

You are so great and you do wonders: you alone are God and Lord! love for God cannot be separated from love for others. We bless the Lord, who invites us to his righteous paths.

First Reading: Hosea 14:2-10 Reading of Hosea's prophecy – Thus says the Lord God: 2“Return, Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have fallen into your sin. 3All of you, find words and return to the Lord; say to him: 'Deliver us from all evil and accept this good that we offer, the fruit of our lips. 4Assyria will not save us; we do not want to ride our horses, we will no longer call the products of our hands ‘our gods’; in you the orphan will find mercy’. 5I will heal their wickedness and it will be easy for me to love them; my anger has turned away from them. 6I will be like dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily and take root like plants in Lebanon. 7Its branches will spread; its splendor will be like that of the olive tree and its perfume like that of Lebanon. 8They will again sit in my shadow and cultivate wheat, and they will flourish like the vine, whose fame is equal to that of the wine of Lebanon. 9What else has Ephraim to do with idols? I am the one who serves him and watches over him. I am like an evergreen cypress: your fruit comes from me. 10Let the wise man understand these words, let the good understanding reflect on them! The ways of the Lord are straight, and the righteous will walk in them, while the wicked stumble and fall there.” - Word of the Lord. Responsorial Psalm: 80(81) Hear, my people, for I am your God! 1. Behold, I hear a voice I do not know: / “I have relieved your back of its burden, / heavy baskets I have taken from your hands. / In anguish you cried to me, and I saved you. – R. 2. I spoke to you from a thundering cloud, / and by the waters of Meriba I tested you. / Listen, my people, because I will warn you! / Israel, ah! if you wanted to listen to me. – R. 3. There is no strange god in your midst, / nor do you worship an unknown god! / For I am your God and your Lord, / who plucked you out of the land of Egypt. – R. 4. I wish my people would listen to me! / May Israel always walk in my paths! / I would give him the flower of wheat / and I would satisfy him with the honey that comes out of the rock.” – R. Gospel: Mark 12,28-34 Glory to you, Lord Jesus, / firstborn from the dead! Convert, the Lord tells us, / the Kingdom of God is near! (Mt 4,17) – R. Proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Mark – At that time, 28a scribe approached Jesus and asked: “Which is the first of all the commandments?”c29Jesus replied: “The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord. 30You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength! 31The second commandment is: You shall love your neighbor as yourself! There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32The master of the Law said to Jesus, “Very well, Master! In fact, it is as you said: he is the only God and there is no other besides him. 33To love Him with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength and to love your neighbor as yourself is better than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently and said, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And no one else had the courage to ask Jesus questions. – Word of salvation. Reflection: By observing how Jesus appropriately interpreted Scripture, a legal expert seeks a solution to a much-debated issue. Among the large number of precepts, which, in fact, is the most important for God according to the tradition of Israel? Jesus, with precision and cadence, reminds the people of Israel that their only Lord is God, and not the leaders who exploit the people. In the Old Covenant, there was not just one commandment, but two, as love for God was inseparable from love for others. You cannot honor God by ignoring human beings. These two commandments favored the creation of a society of equals. His practice was preparation for the full reality of the Messiah, who will raise the level of love for others: “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12).