Sunday 3 November 2024
31st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Deuteronomy 6:2-6. I love you, Lord, my strength – Psalm 17(18):2-4, 47, 51. Hebrews 7:23-28. Mark 12:28-34.
A far-reaching life
For the last couple of days, we have thought with love and gratitude of the people in our lives who have died, from the most inspiring to those we may have found difficult. We believe that they all now rest in God’s tenderness. It is curious, then, to find a reading today which speaks of having a long life. Moses says that if we love the Lord with our heart, soul and strength, we and our children and grandchildren will live for a long time in a land where milk and honey flow. Yet we know this is not always the case. Many faith-filled people are forced to live in poverty. Many beautiful people die before their time and leave painful gaps in our lives. Perhaps a long life may refer to a life that has an impact on others for a long time. It may be a far-reaching life. Or it may even suggest a deep life. When Jesus, in the Gospel, speaks of love, he is speaking of the greatest lengths to which the human spirit can go.
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