March 13, 2026
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/031326.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.
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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.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/l1036g/
Friday,
March 13, 2026
Season of Lent
Opening Prayer
God, we do not want to die; we
want to live.
We want to be
happy but without paying the price. We belong to our times, when sacrifice and
suffering are out of fashion. God, make life worth the pain of living it.
Give us back the age-old realization that life means to
be born again and again in pain, that it may become again a journey of hope to
You, together with Christ Jesus our Lord.
Gospel Reading - Mark 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.
Reflection
In today’s Gospel (Mk 12: 28b-34), the
scribes and the doctors of the Law want to know from Jesus which is the
greatest commandment of all. Even today, many people want to know what is more
important in religion. Some say that it is to be baptized. Others say that it
is to go to church and to participate in the Sunday Mass. Others still say to
love our neighbor and to struggle for a more just world! Others are concerned only
with appearances and with tasks in the Church.
•
Mark 12: 28: The question of the doctor of the
Law. Sometime before the question of the scribe, the discussion was with the
Sadducees concerning faith in the resurrection (Mk 12: 23-27). The doctor who
had participated in the debate was pleased with Jesus’ answer. He perceived in
it His great intelligence and wished to take advantage of the occasion to ask a
question to clarify something: “Which is the greatest commandment of all?” At
that time, the Jews had many norms to regulate the observance of the Ten
Commandments of the Law. Some said, “All these norms have the same value,
because they all come from God. It is not up to us to introduce any distinction
in the things of God.” Others said, “Some laws are more important than others,
and for this reason, they oblige more!” The doctor wants to know what Jesus
thinks.
•
Mark 12: 29-31: Jesus’ response. Jesus responds
quoting a passage from the Bible which says that the greatest among the
commandments is “to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all
your mind and with all your strength!” (Dt 6: 4-5). At the time of Jesus, pious
Jews recited this phrase three times a day: in the morning, at noon and in the
evening. It was so well known among them just as the Our Father is among us.
The Pharisees would even wear Tefillin (phylacteries) which were tiny scrolls
with these words written on them. And Jesus adds, quoting the Bible again, “The
second one is: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev 19: 18). There is
no other greater commandment than these two.” A brief but very profound
response! It is the summary of everything that Jesus teaches on God and His
life (Mt 7: 12).
•
Mark 12: 32-33: The response of the doctor of
the Law. The doctor agrees with Jesus and concludes, “Well said, to love your
neighbor as yourself, this is far more important than any burnt offering or
sacrifice.” That is, the commandment to love is more important than the
commandments which concern the worship and sacrifices of the Temple. The
prophets of the Old Testament had affirmed this (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, sermons and processions.
•
Mark 12: 34: The summary of the Kingdom. Jesus
confirms the doctor’s conclusion and says, “You are not far from the Kingdom of
God!” In fact, the Kingdom of God consists in the union of two loves: love
toward God and love toward neighbor. Because if God is Father/Mother, we are
all brothers and sisters, and we should show this in practice, living in
community. “On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets!” (Mt
22: 40). We, disciples, should keep this law in our mind, in our intelligence,
in our heart, in our hands and feet, because one cannot reach God without
giving oneself totally to one’s neighbor!
•
Jesus had said to the doctor of the law, “You
are not far from the Kingdom of God!” (Mk 12: 34). The doctor was already
close, but in order to be able to enter the Kingdom he still had to go a step
forward. In the Old Testament the criterion of love toward neighbor was: “Love
your neighbor as yourself.” In the New Testament Jesus extends the sense of
love: “This is My commandment: love one another as I have loved you! (Jn 15:
12-23). Then the criterion will be “Love your neighbor as Jesus has loved us.”
This is the sure path to being able to live together in a more just and
fraternal way.
Personal Questions
•
What is the most important priority for you in
exercising your religion?
•
Are we (personally, our close community, our
society) closer to the Kingdom of God nowadays or farther away from it than the
doctor of the Law who was praised by Jesus?
Concluding Prayer
Among the gods there is none to compare with You, for You are
great and do marvellous deeds; You, God, and none other. (Ps 86: 8, 10)
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