Have you died with Christ Jesus your Lord? Having been inserted into His life, death and Resurrection at our baptism was only the beginning. To truly be alive in Him as scripture says is having to die with Him.Let’s explore this dying with Him in a different way. Instead of dying let’s use the words ‘not living’ instead. Hence our deeper reflection will be as follows :-To live in Christ I shall not live loving anyone or anything first other than loving the Lord my God above all.
To live in Christ, I shall not live in sin.
To live in Christ, I shall not live the ways of the world.
To live in Christ, I shall not live for myself but for the good (betterment) of my brethren.O Faithful ever living God our Father, we adore and love You with all our heart, all our hearts, minds, souls and strength. We thank You for Jesus, for by His life, death and Resurrection; we have hope of eternal life with You. Now and forever. Amen
First reading
2 Timothy 2:8-15 ·
If we have died with Christ then we shall live with ChristRemember the Good News that I carry, ‘Jesus Christ risen from the dead, sprung from the race of David’; it is on account of this that I have my own hardships to bear, even to being chained like a criminal – but they cannot chain up God’s news. So I bear it all for the sake of those who are chosen, so that in the end they may have the salvation that is in Christ Jesus and the eternal glory that comes with it.
Here is a saying that you can rely on:If we have died with him, then we shall live with him. If we hold firm, then we shall reign with him. If we disown him, then he will disown us. We may be unfaithful, but he is always faithful, for he cannot disown his own self.Remind them of this; and tell them in the name of God that there is to be no wrangling about words: all that this ever achieves is the destruction of those who are listening. Do all you can to present yourself in front of God as a man who has come through his trials, and a man who has no cause to be ashamed of his life’s work and has kept a straight course with the message of the truth.
Gospel
Mark 12:28-34
‘You are not far from the kingdom of God’One of the scribes came up to Jesus and put a question to him, ‘Which is the first of all the commandments?’ Jesus replied, ‘This is the first: Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the one Lord, and you must 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 must love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.’ The scribe said to him, ‘Well spoken, Master; what you have said is true: that he is one and there is no other. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself, this is far more important than any holocaust or sacrifice.’ Jesus, seeing how wisely he had spoken, said, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And after that no one dared to question him any more.
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