Friday, Third Week of Lent

Daily Readings for Lent
Today's readings: March 12, 2010
First Reading: Hos 14:2-10;
Responsorial Psalm: 81:6c-8a, 8bc-9, 10-11ab, 14 and 17 ;
Gospel: Mk 12:28-34 ;

And here's an audio file and a video of a priest offering reflections.

First Reading:  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.         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.

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.

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Commentary: During this period of Lent, the Word is very powerful, especially if you understand the context of the story, because all we get in these readings are short passages of much a bigger story. If you have taken the time to investigate the stories, the Word of God becomes very rich and fruitful. That said, the Word is also so powerful, that it still cuts straight to the heart, and writes on it in ways beyond our comprehension.

I have always loved the Book of Hosea, which tells the story of a good man named Hosea, who married a women named Gomer who ran off to go chase after her own selfish desires. This marriage is used as a way of understanding our own relationship with God. The whole story has these two levels, Hosea, the cuckolded husband, and Gomer who runs away but later comes home to love Hosea. And on another level, it describes the people of Israel and their relationship with God. Hosea can get very angry, but he is also a man of profound tenderness. Hosea's words offered in Chapter 11 are so tender and gentle. If we saw God as yearning for us as our loving parent and healer, who loves us with this kind of tenderness, wouldn't we all long to be held in those loving arms? Here is a part of the poetry offered in chapter 11.

When Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son.
The more I called them, the farther they went from me,
Sacrificing to the Baals and burning incense to idols.
Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, who took them in my arms;
I drew them with human cords, with bands of love;
I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks;
Yet, though I stooped to feed my child, they did not know that I was their healer.

And in the Gospel reading today - Jesus gives us the explicit directions on how to get home to such a wonderful, gentle and loving God. You have just two rules, that will take a lifetime to fully enjoy and manifest in ways beyond our understanding and imagination. 1) Love God with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength. and 2) Love your neighbor as yourself. And though this task is impossible to do perfectly on our own, God is with us the whole journey - to love us, encourage us, help us, and heal us when we fall. And it is also our job - to do these same things for each other.

Finally - another song for the day - Hosea.