Friday - March 29, 2019
“Mary, who is the Virgin Most Pure, is also the Refuge of Sinners. She knows what sin is, not by the experience of its fall, not by tasting its bitter regrets, but by seeing what it did to her Divine Son.”
--Venerable Fulton Sheen
“Mary, who is the Virgin Most Pure, is also the Refuge of Sinners. She knows what sin is, not by the experience of its fall, not by tasting its bitter regrets, but by seeing what it did to her Divine Son.”
--Venerable Fulton Sheen
March 29 2019
Friday of the Third Week of Lent
Lectionary: 241
Reading 1 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.
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 PsalmPS 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.
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 GospelMT 4:17
Repent, says the Lord;
the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.
the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.
GospelMK 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.
"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.
******************************
Entering More Deeply into Real Love
Can you imagine sitting down next to Jesus and getting into a discussion with him about love? Put yourself into the sandals of the scribe in today's Gospel passage. One of the main activities of scribes and Pharisees was participating in lively discussion groups. They spent hours analyzing and debating every nuance of the scriptures. This particular scribe is trying to engage a traveling rabbi (teacher) in just such a discussion.
He starts with the topic of commandments, but when Jesus advances it to the topic of love, the man is insightful enough to go along with him and take it a step further. For this, he receives praise from Jesus.
How do you see these two most important commandments? Do you really understand this kind of love? Very often when we fail to love, it's because we misunderstood what it really means to love. We've learned from counterfeits.
Instead of unconditional love, the world gives us conditional love ("I'll only be happy with you if you get a perfect score on your test, and I will disapprove of you if you don't").
In place of safe love, the world gives us abuse covered with words like "I didn't mean to do that; I love you, but you made me angry."
In place of generous love, the world gives us lust (pleasure seeking that disregards the ways of God for the sake of self-gratification).
How can we understand true love when we look for it in these counterfeits? We fail to love God with all our souls, minds, and strength when we expect him to be like those who've treated us conditionally or abusively or lustfully.
When we are shaped by counterfeits, we put conditions on our love for God ("if you answer this prayer, I'll go to Mass"). It's impossible to love others like God does when we don't understand how unconditional love really works.
To love others we must first understand that we are loved by God. As long as we're not totally convinced that God loves us all the time, we don't trust him to take good care of us if we go the extra mile for those who make our lives difficult. In that mindset, we take care of ourselves, catering to our own desires rather than doing good deeds of love for those who interfere with our plans and goals. We put conditions on our love ("be nice to me or I won't be nice to you").
To grow in faith, examine your life and figure out where "love" is really only a counterfeit of love, then differentiate this from God's love.
Meditate on God loving you with his whole heart, his whole mind, and his whole strength. Use this image of perfect love to replace your faulty interpretation of love that was caused by counterfeits, and enter into a life that's fully based on the two greatest commandments.
Today's Prayer:
Heavenly Father, draw me closer to You and fill me with true love for You. Help me to share this love boldly and freely. Amen.
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God Bless You.....
Rosary Family
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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