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The sovereign God wants to be loved for Himself and honored for Himself, but that is only part of what He wants. The other part is that He wants us to know that when we have Him we have everything--we have all the rest.
- A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
(Pearl of great price!)
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HOS 14:2-10; Ps 81:6C-8A, 8BC-9, 10-11AB, 14 AND 17
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.
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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"Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! Therefore you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." —Mark 12:29-30
The Lord is saying things to us today He's said surely a hundred times. He says: "Return to Me" (see Hos 14:2), and "love Me with all your heart" (see Mk 12:30). It can be difficult for us to respond to these words. They're familiar enough to be forgotten. But this Lent, after these days of prayer and fasting, maybe we'll hear God for the first time in a long time. Maybe we'll let Him love us freely and heal our defection (Hos 14:5). Maybe we'll obey the first and the greatest commandment after
all these years of "playing church" and playing games with a crucified Savior (see Mk 12:28).
The Lord is waiting for us to come down off the throne and let Him be the King and Lord of our lives. Sure, we've gone to Church, prayed, and even obeyed some of the commandments; but Jesus died on the cross for more than that. He wants our lives, our all. He wants us. Yes, sooner or later God will break through in our lives. May it be sooner, this Lent, even now.
Prayer: "Jesus, my Lord, my God, my All" (see Jn 20:28).
Promise: "Jesus approved the insight of this answer and told him, 'You are not far from the reign of God.' " —Mk 12:34
Presentation Ministries
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Abandonment to Divine Providence
- by Jean-Pierre de Caussade
BOOK II,
CHAPTER II. THE DUTIES OF THOSE SOULS CALLED BY GOD TO THE STATE OF ABANDONMENT
SECTION IV. God Does All for a Soul of Goodwill. The conduct of a soul raised to a state of abandonment with regard to this twofold manifestation of the good pleasure of God.
This divine will is to the soul in all things its method, its rule, and its direct and safe way. It is an unalterable law which is of all times, of all places, and of all states. It is a straight line which the soul must follow with courage and fidelity, neither diverging to the right, nor to the left, nor overstepping the bounds. Whatever is over and above must be received passively, as it carries on its work in
abandonment. In a word, the soul is active in all that the present duty requires, but passive and submissive in all the rest, about which there should be no self-will, but patient waiting for the divine motion.
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