First Reading
Hosea 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
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.
Gospel
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
SOURCE: One Bread One Body
TITLE: THE COMMANDMENT FOR THE HYPOCRITE
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself." –Mark 12:31
One of the scribes asked Jesus: "Which is the first commandment?" Jesus answered by stating the first andsecond commandments (Mk 12:31). Jesus not only gave the scribe more than he asked for, but also picked a most obscure commandment buried in the many detailed commands of Leviticus (Lv 19:18). What was Jesus doing?
The first commandment seems to be something people say more than do. How many times have we said we love the Lord? How many times have we gone to Communion? Yet our repeated sins and lives of selfishness make it questionable whether or not we truly love the Lord with all our hearts.
Many Jewish and Christian believers have deceived themselves about their living out of the first commandment. The second commandment, therefore, has a way of exposing hypocrisy in us. "If anyone says, 'My love is fixed on God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar. One who has no love for the brother he has seen cannot love the God he has not seen" (1 Jn 4:20). It's so easy to say we love God, but to express that love by forgiving, serving, and suffering for very unlovable people seems impossible. When we try to love ourselves and our neighbors, we discover how authentic our love for God is. The second commandment is intended to keep us from playing religious games with the first commandment. Jesus gave us the second commandment to keep us honest.
PRAYER: Father, this Lent may I let You remove hypocrisy from my life.
PROMISE: "Return, O Israel, to the Lord, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt. Take with you words, and return to the Lord." –Hos 14:2-3
PRAISE: Michelle teaches Scripture to the elderly.
...may the good Lord bless His holy word in our hearts..
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