Friday of the Third Week of Lent
MK 12:28-34
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.”
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.”
This is at the core of what it means to live as a Christian and what we are called to reflect upon every day of year.
As we are approaching the second half of the Lenten season, this gospel reading is an important reminder of what our Lenten promises are calling us to. Often our Lenten promises become something of a personal challenge or struggle. But is this really the purpose of Lent?
I ask myself, how can I love the Lord with ALL my heart, soul, mind, and strength? How would God ask me to love him?
Secondly, how do I love my neighbors as myself?
God is our constant companion, always beside us walking along the way. One of the greatest gifts is just to be and be present. Just by opening our eyes and ears to see God and hear God, we are invited into a loving relationship with him. Time and presence are the greatest gifts. They also allow us to hear his will for us. God desires our happiness and freedom. By listening and understanding, we can enter into God’s love more fully and take on his will.
Our personal relationship with God is something so important and sacred but through its nurturing we discover God calls us to bigger and greater love that cannot possibly end in ourselves.
God is not only our constant companion, God is open, present, and real in everyone we meet. As we hear in the responsorial psalm, Do we dare to hear God’s voice in one another? In a way, by loving one another, we love God even more. We are called to accompany one another along the way, just as God is with us.
So as we enter the second half of the Lenten season, I ask myself these questions:
Are my Lenten practices allowing me to find God in myself and others?
Can I let go of perfection and completion of my Lenten practice and remember the real importance of Lent?
How can I better love the God within myself and others with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength?
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