So Close — Yet Still Outside
Friday of the Third Week of Lent Hos 14:2–10 · Ps 81 · Mk 12:28–34
“All you need is love.”
You’ve heard that line before.
The Beatles sang it. The world sang along. And yet, even they could not hold their unity together.
Like the scribe in today’s Gospel, they were “not far from the Kingdom of God.”
They sensed something true. They spoke about it. But sensing truth is not the same as living it.
We say the same thing: Without love, life has no meaning.
But what do we mean by “love”?
What actually shapes your time, your energy, your decisions?
That is what you truly love.
Do not say you love someone if most of your time belongs to a screen.
Do not say you love God if you never pray.
The prophet Hosea spoke to people who trusted “the work of their hands.”
They did not think they were idolaters. They simply organized their lives around other things.
Are we so different?
We may not carve statues. But we build careers, platforms, reputations. And slowly, we bow to them.
You become what you worship.
If you worship success, you will never rest.
If you worship approval, you will never feel secure.
If you worship control, you will never trust.
Idols promise freedom. They deliver anxiety.
Then Jesus is asked: What is the greatest commandment?
He does not hesitate.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength.
And love your neighbor as yourself.
Not two commandments. One movement.
Love vertically. Love horizontally.
In that sense, “all you need is love” is not wrong.
But biblical love is not a slogan. It is not a feeling. It is not a song.
It is a decision. A commitment. A sacrifice.
To love God is to give Him first place. To love your neighbor is to give yourself away.
The scribe understood this intellectually. Jesus told him: “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
Not far.
But not inside.
Because knowing is not loving. And loving is not talking.
It is doing.
Many of us are not far.
We sing about love. We write about love. We film love. We quote love.
But we do not yet live by love.
And until love moves from word to life, from idea to obedience, from slogan to surrender,
we remain close — but not yet home.
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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© 2025 Krakus.
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