About the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B
October 31, 2021
The readings for the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B help us think of God’s commandments and if we are following them just in our heads or also in our hearts. In the first reading Moses tells the people to love God above all else. The second reading Paul tells us that the priesthood of Jesus is eternal. And in the gospel, Jesus commends the man who accepted the Great Commandment.
Daily Mass Readings for the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B
- First Reading – Deuteronomy 6:2-6: “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.”
- Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 18: “I love you, Lord, my strength.”
- Second Reading – Hebrews 7:23-28: “For the law appoints men subject to weakness to be high priests, but the word of the oath, which was taken after the law, appoints a son, who has been made perfect forever.”
- Gospel – Mark 12:28b-34: “One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Themes for the Gospel
- The Ten Commandments
- The call to love
- Loyalty
- Different types of love
- Church laws (Magisterium)
See the bottom of this post for extended ideas related to these themes.
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More Resources
Learn More about the Shema
The commandment spoken of this Sunday is known as the Shema Yisra’el. Learn more about this Jewish prayer.
What Is “Moral Law”?
How does God give us law and help us know right from wrong?
Social Media Graphic
This is a graphic of the Shema Yisrael from Deuteronomy. Click on it for a full size image.
Coffee cup has the phrase about loving God on one side and loving neighbor on the other.
Other Themes for These Readings
In the Old Testament, love is shown through loyalty. Although God’s people are not always faithful, God never abandons us. The love expressed in the Great Commandment is meant to be a love of fidelity. Jesus and the Father share this type of love in a perfect way. We must strive to be faithful to God and our neighbor.
The comment of Jesus to the scribe – “You are not far from the Kingdom of God” – indicates that this sort of love is an important aspect of God’s Kingdom. In order for the Kingdom to flourish, we must see this type of love in Jesus and then allow our own lives to be changed by it.
For Jesus, this faithful love is what matters in his message. He could have emphasized other aspects of the divine, such as wisdom or power. But he is focused on this steadfast type of love. This is the love which God has for us and calls us to show for one another.