3rd Friday in Lent, March 8, 2024
Hos 14:2-10; Ps 81:6c-11b, 14, 17; Mk 12:28-34
We are now at the end of the Third Week of Lent.; just about halfway through. Are you surviving? Are you able to make do without those things you decided to “give up” for Lent? I heard the other day that, those things we are “giving up” are probably things we SHOULD be giving up. So why not give them up completely? How about after we give them up, we chose to gain something? Or return to something we have probably not been paying much attention to. Wondering what that might be? Re-read the first verse of today’s first reading from Hosea. Chapter 14, verse 2: “Return, O Israel, to the Lord, your God…” What better way to get rid of what is bad for us, and gain what is good?
How many times have the Jews turned their backs on God, and then turned around and ran back to Him? The number does not matter. What really matters is they recognized their sin and God forgave them. Just like we have all been doing during the first three weeks of Lent. We have been beating ourselves up for all the sinful things we have done, and rightly so. But now we repent, we purposefully change our ways, stop doing those things, and run to God for forgiveness. As we run back to Him, use the words found in verse 3: “Forgive all my iniquity, and receive what is good.” Forgiveness from God is what we receive and an everlasting promise for a strong future.
Once our hearts are free from sin and we are forgiven, God will pour out His graces on us so we can live freely in love. Jesus was asked today, what is the greatest commandment? It is love. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. And the second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. So for these last three weeks of Lent, continue to turn away from what is bad for yourselves, and turn to God with the greatest gift we can give Him, Love. Love for God, and Love for others. For to love God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself, is worth more than any sacrifice we could offer.
Saint James Catholic Church 