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"Lent is a time of going very deeply into ourselves... What is it that stands between us and God? Between us and our brothers and sisters? Between us and life, the life of the Spirit? Whatever it is, let us relentlessly tear it out, without a moment's hesitation."
- Catherine Doherty
(At this halfway point through Lent, how does this message challenge you to continue with spiritual disciplines?)
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Hos 14:2-10; Psalm 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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“What more has he to do with idols?” —Hosea 14:9
As a Catholic priest, I rarely hear Christians confess that they have committed the sin of idolatry, although the Lord in the Bible refers to idolatry as one of our major temptations. Idolatry is the sin against the first of the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:2ff). The prophets repeatedly prophesy against the worship of idols. The writer of the book of Wisdom makes the shocking statement: “The worship of infamous idols is the
reason and source and extremity of all evil” (Wis 14:27). St. Paul warned: “I am telling you, whom I love, to shun the worship of idols” (1 Cor 10:14). St. John abruptly concludes his first letter: “My little children, be on your guard against idols” (1 Jn 5:21).
Idolatry in our culture usually doesn’t have anything to do with strange statues or perverted religious ceremonies. Idolatry is to make someone or something more important than God (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2113). St. Paul calls greed idolatry (Eph 5:5; Col 3:5). Idolatry is to give some of our heart, soul, mind, and strength to something other than God (see Mk 12:30). This makes it impossible for us to give all to the Lord. If we’re not giving 100% to the Lord, we are automatically
in idolatry.
Therefore, return “to the Lord, your God” (Hos 14:2). “What more” have we “to do with idols?” (Hos 14:9)
Prayer: God, You alone are my Life and my Salvation.
Promise: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! Therefore you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart.” —Mk 12:29-30
Presentation Ministries
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Abandonment to Divine Providence
- by Jean-Pierre de Caussade
BOOK II,
CHAPTER IV. CONCERNING THE ASSISTANCE RENDERED BY THE FATHERLY PROVIDENCE OF GOD TO THOSE SOULS WHO HAVE ABANDONED THEMSELVES TO HIM
SECTION 7. Conviction of weakness
The soul in the state of abandonment can abstain from justifying itself by word or deed. The divine action justifies it.
All the links of this divine chain remain firm and solid, and the reason of that which precedes as cause is seen in that which follows as effect. It is no longer a life of dreams, a life of imaginations, a life of a multiplicity of words. The soul is no longer occupied with these things, nor nourished and maintained in this way; they are no longer of any avail, and afford no support.
The soul no longer sees where it is going, nor foresees where it will go; reflexions no longer help it to gain courage to endure fatigue, and to sustain the hardships of the way. All this is swept aside by an interior conviction of weakness. The road widens as it advances; it has started, and goes on without hesitation. Being perfectly simple and straightforward, it follows the path of God's commandments
quietly, relying on God Himself whom it finds at every step, and God, whom it seeks above all things, takes upon Himself to manifest His presence in such a way as to avenge it on its unjust detractors.
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