Responsorial Psalm
I love you, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress,
my deliverer and my God.
He is the rock in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield, my powerful savior, my stronghold.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress,
my deliverer and my God.
He is the rock in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield, my powerful savior, my stronghold.
4 I call on the Lord, who is worthy of praise: he saves me from my enemies!
The Lord lives! Praised be my rock!
Exalted be my savior God -
"He has given victories to his king;
he has shown his love to his anointed ones,
to David, and to his descendants forever."
2nd. READING (Heb 7,23-28)
The former priests were many since, as mortal men, they could not remain in office.
But Jesus remains forever and the priesthood shall not be taken from him.
Consequently he is able to save for all time those who approach God through him. He
always lives to intercede on their behalf. It was fitting that our High Priest be holy,
undefiled, set apart from sinners and exalted above the heavens; a priest who does not
first need to offer sacrifice for himself before offering for the sins of the people, as
high priests do. He offered himself in sacrifice once and for all. And whereas the Law
elected weak men as high priests, now, after the Law, the word of God with an oath
appointed the Son, made perfect forever.
Gospel
A teacher of the Law had been listening to this discussion and admired how Jesus
answered them. So he came up and asked him, "Which commandment is the first of
all?" Jesus answered, "The first is: Hear, Israel! The Lord, our God, is One Lord; 30
and you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all
your mind and with all your strength. And after this comes another one: You shall
love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these two."
The teacher of the Law said to him, "Well-spoken, Master; you are right when you say
that he is one and there is no other. To love him with all our heart, with all our
understanding and with all our strength, and to love our neighbour as ourselves is more
important than any burnt offering or sacrifice." Jesus approved this answer and said,
"You are not far from the kingdom of God." But after that, no one dared to ask him
any more questions.
