Bible Diary

Daily Reading

Friday of the Third Week of Lent

LECTIONARY
241

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.

PSALM

PS 81:6C-8A, 8BC-9, 10-11AB, 14 AND 17

Response: 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."

"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?"

"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."

"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."

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.

Daily Reflection

Before Samaria fell to the power of Assyria, Hosea brought God’s warning to his people who were living in a state of moral and spiritual decay. Rather than rebuke or condemnation, the message was that of an open invitation from a tender and loving God. It urged the people give up their rituals and devotion to their many pagan gods and return to the ‘one’ God who has been ever faithful to them. The Lord God would heal their disloyalty and help them prosper in a land that would flourish with His abundant blessings.

Unlike the other gods, the Lord did not demand holocausts or sacrifices or elaborate rituals, but their single-minded devotion.

We hear a similar message in the Gospel with Jesus summarizing the commandments into two simple sections: single minded and complete devotion to a monotheistic God, which would necessarily need to be translated into love for fellow human beings.

God calls us to live in His love. When we lead a life surrounded by God’s love, it is only natural that we start to respond in love.