Daily Readings

Reading I:  Hos 14:2-10

    Thus says the LORD:
Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God;
    you have collapsed through your guilt.
Take with you words,
    and return to the LORD;
Say to him, “Forgive all iniquity,
    and receive what is good, that we may render
    as offerings the bullocks from our stalls.
Assyria will not save us,
    nor shall we have horses to mount;
We shall say no more, ‘Our god,’
    to the work of our hands;
    for in you the orphan finds compassion.”

I will heal their defection, says the LORD,
    I will love them freely;
    for my wrath is turned away from them.
I will be like the dew for Israel:
    he shall blossom like the lily;
He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar,
    and put forth his shoots.
His splendor shall be like the olive tree
    and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar.
Again they shall dwell in his shade
    and raise grain;
They shall blossom like the vine,
    and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

Ephraim! What more has he to do with idols?
    I have humbled him, but I will prosper him.
“I am like a verdant cypress tree”– 
    Because of me you bear fruit!

Let him who is wise understand these things;
    let him who is prudent know them.
Straight are the paths of the LORD,
    in them the just walk,
    but sinners stumble in them.
 

Responsorial Psalm:  81:6c-8a, 8bc-9, 10-11ab, 14 and 17

R.    (see 11 and 9a)  I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
An unfamiliar speech I hear:
    “I relieved his shoulder of the burden;
    his hands were freed from the basket.
In distress you called, and I rescued you.”
R.    I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
“Unseen, I answered you in thunder;
    I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
Hear, my people, and I will admonish you;
    O Israel, will you not hear me?”
R.    I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
“There shall be no strange god among you
     nor shall you worship any alien god.
I, the LORD, am your God
    who led you forth from the land of Egypt.”
R.    I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
“If only my people would hear me,
    and Israel walk in my ways,
I would feed them with the best of wheat,
    and with honey from the rock I would fill them.”
R.    I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
 

Verse before the Gospel:  Mt 4:17

Repent, says the Lord;
the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.
 

Gospel:  Mk 12:28-34

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
“Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus replied, “The first is this:
    Hear, O Israel!
    The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 
    with all your soul, 
    with all your mind, 
    and with all your strength.
The second is this:
    You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.”
The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
    He is One and there is no other than he.
And to love him with all your heart,
    with all your understanding, 
    with all your strength,
    and to love your neighbor as yourself
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Father Kirk's Daily Lenten Reflection
Friday of the 3rd Week of Lent: March 12, 2021

The question asked of Jesus in today’s gospel by one of the Jewish scribes seems innocent enough, ““Which is the first of all the commandments?”  However, in those days, there was a great dispute over the commandments and the law.  From the original 10 commandments handed down from God to Moses the religious leaders of the time had expanded the original 10 into over 400 statutes and rules.  This posed a huge burden upon those who were trying to follow the law faithfully.  In fact, it made it almost impossible for any devout Jew to follow all of the rules or even for that matter to know them.

In this context Jesus’ answer is both telling and provocative, especially since he was quoting directly from the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy: “Hear, O Israel!  The Lord our God is Lord alone!  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.”

In other words, if we love God fully and if we love our neighbor than all of the other laws, rules, statutes, and regulations are fulfilled.

May our prayer this day echo the words of the writer of Psalm 18: “I love you Lord, my strength.