March 28, 2025
Friday of the Third Week of Lent
Lectionary: 241
Reading 1
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
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
Repent, says the Lord;
the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Gospel
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.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032825.cfm
Commentary on Hosea
14:2-10
Both of today’s readings are about our total commitment to
God. Regarding the First Reading, the Vatican II Missal tells
us:
“More than any other prophet, Hosea tells about God’s love
for his people.”
After many negative words from the prophet to God’s people,
Hosea in this last part of his book sounds a note of hope, which he had already
hinted at earlier. Today’s passage is a liturgical prayer expressing sincere
repentance, concluding with a firm promise of God’s blessing.
In this closing passage of his book, Hosea calls the people
back to God. The troubles they have been experiencing are due to their
alienation from God. If they will only come back to him, where they belong,
their lives will flourish. God is only too anxious to shower his love and gifts
on them.
Hosea urges the people to say:
Take away all guilt;
accept that which is good,
and we will offer
the fruit of our lips.
In other words, expressions of true repentance will take the
place of purely external rituals.
There is there not much good in looking for help from
powerful neighbours like Assyria, nor from those who “ride upon horses”
(perhaps a reference to Egypt). Rather, God is the one in whom “the orphan
finds mercy.”
God will bring his healing:
I will heal their disloyalty;
I will love them freely…
These gifts and their results are expressed in lovely
phrases taken from plant life:
I will be like the dew to Israel;
he shall blossom like the lily;
he shall strike root like the forests of Lebanon.
His shoots shall spread out;
his beauty shall be like the olive tree
and his fragrance like that of Lebanon.
They shall again live beneath my shadow;
they shall flourish as a garden;
they shall blossom like the vine;
their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
God then compares himself to the greenness of a cypress tree
(and this is unique in the Old Testament), a source of life and fruitfulness
for his people.
If we could learn that only through the way of life which
God proposes can we find the true fulfilment of our deepest longings, then we
will experience a deep happiness throughout our life. During this Lent let us
open our hearts to a total and unconditional love of God and of those around
us.
Comments Off
Commentary on Mark
12:28-34
In the Gospel, we find one of the rare meetings between
Jesus and a teacher of the Law which is not confrontational. The man seems
genuinely interested in Jesus’ answer to a question that was often asked by
interpreters of the Law. Again, and rather unusually, Jesus answers the
question directly.
In fact, he gives a double answer. In doing so, he links, in
a special and indivisible way, a total love of God with love of those around
us. The scribe is impressed. He fully endorses what Jesus has said, and even
adds that such love transcends any purely religious activity. Jesus is also
impressed, and tells the scribe that he is very close to the Kingdom of God.
Jesus says this because the scribe puts love of God and
neighbour at the very centre of living, but he will not be fully in the Kingdom
until he becomes a follower of the Way of Jesus. Whether that happened or not
we do not know.
What we do know, is that we today are being called to follow
Jesus in a total commitment of heart, mind and strength to loving God, and to
loving unconditionally every single person we come in contact with. Lent is a
good time for us to evaluate how we are doing in this regard.
Comments Off
https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/l1036g/
Friday, March 28, 2025
Season of Lent
Opening Prayer
Father,
Your love never fails. Hear our call. Keep us from danger
and provide for all our needs. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your
Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and
ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Mark 12: 28b-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.
Reflection
The Gospel today presents a beautiful conversation
between Jesus and a doctor of the Law. The doctor wants to know from Jesus
which is the first of all the commandments. Today, many people want to know
what is most important in religion. Some say: to be baptized. Others, to pray.
Others say: to go to Mass or to participate in worship on Sunday. Others say:
to love your neighbor! Others are worried about the appearance or the changes
or tasks in the Church.
•
Mark 12: 28: The question of the doctor of the
Law. A doctor of the Law, who had seen the debate of Jesus with the Sadducees
(Mk 12: 23-27), was pleased with Jesus’ response, and he perceives in Him a
great intelligence and wants to take advantage of this occasion to ask Him a
question: “Which is the first one of all the commandments?” At that time the
Jews had an enormous number of norms which regulated, in practice, the
observance of the Ten Commandments of the Law of God. Some said: “All these
norms have the same value, because they all come from God. It does not belong
to us to introduce distinctions in the things of God.” Others would say, “Some
Laws
are more important than others, that is why they oblige
more!” The doctor wanted to know Jesus’ opinion.
•
Mark 12: 29-31: Jesus’ response. Jesus responds
by quoting a passage of the Bible to say that the first commandment is “to love
God with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your strength!” (Dt 6:
4-5). At the time of Jesus, the pious Jews made of this text of Deuteronomy a
prayer which they recited three times a day: in the morning, at noon and in the
evening. It was also one of the four verses written in the phylacteries (tefillin) that men (mostly) wore. Among
them it was known as today we know the Our Father. And Jesus adds, quoting the
Bible again, “the second one is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other more important commandment than this one.” (Lev 19: 18). A
brief and profound response! It is the summary of all that Jesus has taught
about God and about life (Mt 7: 12).
•
Mark 12: 32-33: The answer of the doctor of the
Law. The doctor agrees with Jesus and draws this conclusion: “To love Him with
all your heart, with all your understanding and strength, and to love your
neighbor as yourself; this is far more important than any burnt offering or
sacrifice.” In other words, the commandment of love is more important than the
commandments related to worship and sacrifice in the Temple. This affirmation
was already used by the prophets of the Old Testament (Hos 6: 6; Ps 40: 6-8; Ps
51: 16-17). Today, we would say that the practice of love is more important
than novenas, promises, Masses, prayers, and processions.
•
Mark 12: 34: The summary of the Kingdom. Jesus
confirms the conclusion reached by the doctor and says, “You are not far from
the Kingdom of God!” In fact, the Kingdom of God consists in recognizing that
love toward God is equal to the love of neighbor. Because if God is Father, we
all are sisters and brothers and should show this in practice, living in
community. "These two commandments depend on the Law and the prophets” (Mt
22: 4). The disciples must keep in mind, fix in their memory, in their
intelligence, in the heart, in their hands and feet this important law of love:
God is only attained through the total gift of self to our neighbor!
•
The first and most important commandment. The
most important and first commandment was and will always be: “to love God with
all your heart, with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mk 12: 30). In
the measure in which the people of God, throughout the centuries, have deepened
the meaning and the importance of the love of God, it has become aware that
God’s love is true and real only in the measure in which it is made concrete in
the love to neighbor. And thus, the second commandment which asks for the love
for neighbor, is similar to the first commandment of God’s love (Mt 22: 39; Mk
12: 31). “Anyone who says I love God, and hates his brother, is a liar” (1 Jn
4: 20). “On these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Mt
22: 40).
Personal Questions
There are different kinds of love, some
incomplete. There is love that is possessive: “I love my spouse; you can’t have
him/her.” There is the love that wants to share the one/thing loved: “I love
these candies! Have some!” There is love that begets obligation: “I have to
take care of my cat.” And there is the love that brings total service, as one
does to a new baby: no one questions why the baby is upset, or advises the baby
to eat less, but only responds with complete service at the moment.
•
Which form of love do I give to God, really and
truly, and which form of love would my friends, neighbors, or community say I
give?
•
Of these types of love, which do I have for the
people around me? Is it different for the people I see but don’t know
personally? What should it be, and am I honest in my self-evaluation?
•
I am on my way to the last Sunday Mass today.
Someone approaches and needs my help. Do I miss Mass and help, or avoid the
person so I can make it to Mass? How does your answer fit with these
commandments from Jesus?
Concluding Prayer
Direct me in Your ways, Yahweh, and teach me Your paths.
Encourage me to walk in Your truth and teach me since You
are the God who saves me. (Ps 25: 4-5)
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét