The greatness of Relationship

GOSPEL THOUGHTS

*Ordinary Season : Ninth Week:  Wednesday*

*Gospel :  Mark 12 : 18-27*

*First Reading : 2 Tim 1: 1-3, 6-12*

*Responsorial Psalm : 123: 1-3*

*The greatness of Relationship*

*1) Relationship is not temporary; it is part of God's design*

If human beings cannot flourish without relationships, that may point to something deeper than a merely earthly need. According to the Bible, we are created in the image of God. God himself is relational. Christians understand God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—an eternal communion of love.

So our need for relationship is not simply a biological or social necessity. It reflects something about the nature of God and the way we were created.

*2) The greatest relationship is with God*

In Mark 12, Jesus places love of God first. This suggests that all other relationships find their meaning in relationship with God.

On earth, we often depend heavily on relationships with family, friends, spouses, and communities because our relationship with God is not yet experienced in its fullness. These relationships become channels through which we experience love.

In heaven, the relationship with God is no longer partial or indirect. It is immediate and complete.

*3) Heaven is not Isolation*

Sometimes people imagine heaven as each person having a private relationship with God. But the biblical picture is much richer.

Heaven is described as a gathered people, a kingdom, a family, a wedding feast, a multitude worshiping together. These images suggest community, not solitude.

So the need for relationship does not disappear after death. Rather, relationships are transformed and perfected.

*4) Jesus says earthly forms of relationship change*

Your question touches on a passage near Mark 12:28–34. Earlier in the same chapter (Mark 12:25), Jesus says that in the resurrection people "neither marry nor are given in marriage."

This does not mean people stop loving each other. It means that earthly institutions such as marriage belong to this age and serve particular purposes here.

In heaven, love remains, but it is no longer limited by exclusiveness, jealousy, misunderstanding, fear, or loss. Every relationship is gathered into the perfect love of God.

*5) Love of neighbor prepares us for heaven*

The scribe in Mark 12 understands that loving God and neighbor is greater than religious rituals.

Perhaps this tells us something important about eternal life: heaven is not primarily about a place but about perfect participation in love.

Every act of genuine love for God and neighbor is already a foretaste of eternal life. We are learning now the very reality that will be fulfilled in God's presence.

*6) A New Relationship*

If earthly relationships answer the question, "Who are you to me?", heavenly relationships answer a deeper question: "Who are we together before God?"

In heaven, the fundamental relationship is not husband-wife, parent-child, or friend-friend. It is the relationship of children of God living in perfect communion with God and with one another.

Mark 12 suggests that the life of heaven is the fulfillment of the two great commandments: Perfect love of God. Perfect love of all others. Where those two loves are complete, heaven has already begun.

*Think about it*

*God bless you and your family. Praying for you and your dear ones*

*Fr Maxim D'Souza*

*Jeppu Seminary*

*Mangalore*