Daily Catholic Mass Readings for November 3, 2024

Psalm 18

¹Unto the end. For David, the servant of the Lord, who spoke the words of this canticle to the Lord, in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said: I will love you, O Lord my strength.²The Lord is my firmament, my refuge, and my liberator. My God is my helper, and I hope in him: my protector, and the horn of my salvation, and my support³Praising, I will call upon the Lord. And I will be saved from my enemies⁴The sorrows of death surrounded me, and the torrents of iniquity dismayed me⁵The sorrows of Hell encompassed me, and the snares of death intercepted me⁶In my tribulation, I called upon the Lord, and I cried out to my God. And he listened to my voice from his holy temple. And my cry in his presence entered into his ears⁷The earth was shaken, and it trembled. The foundations of the mountains were disturbed, and they were shaken, because he was angry with them⁸A smoke ascended by his wrath, and a fire flared up from his face: coals were kindled by it⁹He bent the heavens, and they descended. And darkness was under his feet¹⁰And he ascended upon the cherubim, and he flew: he flew upon the feathers of the winds¹¹And he set darkness as his hiding place, with his tabernacle all around him: dark waters in the clouds of the air¹²At the brightness that was before his sight, the clouds crossed by, with hail and coals of fire¹³And the Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice: hail and coals of fire¹⁴And he sent forth his arrows and scattered them. He multiplied lightnings, and he set them in disarray¹⁵Then the fountains of waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were revealed, by your rebuke, O Lord, by the inspiration of the Spirit of your wrath¹⁶He sent from on high, and he accepted me. And he took me up, out of many waters¹⁷He rescued me from my strongest enemies, and from those who hated me. For they had been too strong for me¹⁸They intercepted me in the day of my affliction, and the Lord became my protector¹⁹And he led me out, into a wide place. He accomplished my salvation, because he willed me²⁰And the Lord will reward me according to my justice, and he will repay me according to the purity of my hands²¹For I have preserved the ways of the Lord, and I have not behaved impiously before my God²²For all his judgments are in my sight, and his justice, I have not pushed away from me²³And I will be immaculate together with him, and I will keep myself from my iniquity²⁴And the Lord will reward me according to my justice and according to the purity of my hands before his eyes²⁵With the holy, you will be holy, and with the innocent, you will be innocent²⁶and with the elect, you will be elect, and with the perverse, you will be perverse²⁷For you will save the humble people, but you will bring down the eyes of the arrogant²⁸For you illuminate my lamp, O Lord. My God, enlighten my darkness²⁹For in you, I will be delivered from temptation; and with my God, I will climb over a wall³⁰As for my God, his way is undefiled. The eloquence of the Lord has been examined by fire. He is the protector of all who hope in him³¹For who is God, except the Lord? And who is God, except our God³²It is God who has wrapped me with virtue and made my way immaculate³³It is he who has perfected my feet, like the feet of deer, and who stations me upon the heights³⁴It is he who trains my hands for battle. And you have set my arms like a bow of brass³⁵And you have given me the protection of your salvation. And your right hand sustains me. And your discipline has corrected me unto the end. And your discipline itself will teach me³⁶You have expanded my footsteps under me, and my tracks have not been weakened³⁷I will pursue my enemies and apprehend them. And I will not turn back until they have failed³⁸I will break them, and they will not be able to stand. They will fall under my feet³⁹And you have wrapped me with virtue for the battle. And those rising up against me, you have subdued under me⁴⁰And you have given the back of my enemies to me, and you have destroyed those who hated me⁴¹They cried out, but there was none to save them, to the Lord, but he did not heed them⁴²And I will crush them into dust before the face of the wind, so that I will obliterate them like the mud in the streets⁴³You will rescue me from the contradictions of the people. You will set me at the head of the Gentiles⁴⁴A people I did not know has served me. As soon as their ears heard, they were obedient to me⁴⁵The sons of foreigners have been deceitful to me, the sons of foreigners have grown weak with time, and they have wavered from their paths⁴⁶The Lord lives, and blessed is my God, and may the God of my salvation be exalted⁴⁷O God, who vindicates me and who subdues the people under me, my liberator from my enraged enemies⁴⁸And you will exalt me above those who rise up against me. From the iniquitous man, you will rescue me⁴⁹Because of this, O Lord, I will confess to you among the nations, and I will compose a psalm to your name⁵⁰magnifying the salvation of his king, and showing mercy to David, his Christ, and to his offspring, even for all time

Gospel: Mark 12.28-34

Mark

Chapter 12

²⁸And one of the scribes, who had heard them arguing, drew near to him. And seeing that he had answered them well, he questioned him as to which was the first commandment of all²⁹And Jesus answered him: "For the first commandment of all is this: ‘Listen, O Israel. The Lord your God is one God³⁰And you shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart, and from your whole soul, and from your whole mind, and from your whole strength. This is the first commandment.³¹But the second is similar to it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.³²And the scribe said to him: Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth that there is one God, and there is no other beside him³³and that he should be loved from the whole heart, and from the whole understanding, and from the whole soul, and from the whole strength. And to love one’s neighbor as one’s self is greater than all holocausts and sacrifices.³⁴And Jesus, seeing that he had responded wisely, said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And after that, no one dared to question him

Sermon

In today's Gospel, we witness a meaningful encounter between Jesus and a scribe who approaches Him after hearing His wise responses to others. The scribe poses a question about the greatest commandment, prompting Jesus to recite the Shema from Deuteronomy, emphasizing love for God with all one's heart, soul, mind, and strength. Jesus then adds a second commandment from Leviticus, instructing us to love our neighbor as ourselves. The scribe, in agreement, acknowledges the truth in Jesus' words, and Jesus commends him, noting he is close to the kingdom of God. This passage occurs in the context of Jesus' time in Jerusalem, where He engages with various religious leaders, often facing challenging questions. Here, however, the interaction is uniquely positive, highlighting the harmony between Jesus' teachings and the scribe's understanding. The two commandments Jesus cites are central to His message, illustrating that love for God and neighbor are inseparable. This duality underscores that true faith is not merely about rituals but about the expression of love in our actions and attitudes. In our daily lives, this teaching calls us to prioritize love in every interaction. It invites us to reflect on how we can demonstrate love for God and our neighbors through our choices and actions. Jesus' commendation of the scribe reminds us that living out these commandments brings us closer to God's kingdom. Let us examine our hearts and actions, ensuring they align with the love that Jesus taught, recognizing that this love is the cornerstone of our faith and our path to a deeper relationship with God.