Hosea 14:1-9,
Psalm 81:6c-8a.8bc-9.10—11ab.1 4,
Mark 12:28b-34 Full Readings
A Call to Conversion and to Love.
Brethren today's readings invite us to metanoia, to change from our sinful nature, and then to love God and our neighbours and doing so means that we are not far from the kingdom of God.
The first Reading assures us that when we turn back from our sinful nature, we get safety in the Lord. Most times we might feel that we are cursed, rejected and even the unfortunate of all the people because of our severe downfall, unsuccessfulness and the misfortunes which have happened to us. Sometimes we even blame God for not answering our prayers and
for letting us suffer a lot, but Prophet Hosea tells us that it's our sinfulness and our iniquities which have caused such situations. We have to remember that God gave us freedom to choose, and according to the Old Testament, he judges us justly according to what we have done. When we choose evil it will be ourselves who have caused our downfall not God. If we want happiness and success in life, we have to take away all our iniquities, come back to God, love Him, and show the same love to our neighbors.
Who knows if our present problems in the world have been caused by our sinfulness. Let's therefore raise our hands together and pray to God, fast, repent for all what we have done and ask for forgiveness and God's mercy so that we can regain peace, and safety as he promises us in the first Reading.
Returning to God means to love him with all our heart, soul, mind and wisdom, which Jesus calls the first among all the commandments. When we love God, we will follow his commandments and ordinances and thus do his will and then peace will reign among us. To love God presupposes to Know him, for you cannot love anyone if you don't know him or her, this is the same with God. To love God is to know him first as St Anselm in his proslogion prays: "I pray O God that I may know You and love You, so that I may rejoice in You." However, we cannot fully comprehend God and know him, we can't see him. We only know God by listening to his word, listening to his servants and above all through our neighbors.
This is why Jesus says the second commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself, for through loving our neighbors we love God in return. In fact St John in his first letter, *1 John 4:20,* challenges us that how can we claim we love God, whom we can't see and hate our neighbors who we are with, we are just liars if we do that. Therefore we have to love one another as Jesus loved, to love our neighbours means being there for them in any situation. We are encouraged, during this Lent, to deny ourselves something for the sake of those who are suffering and the needy. Alms giving is one way of showing love to our fellows, especially the poor and most abandoned, and in doing this we are doing the will of God and living in the kingdom of God for the kingdom of God is love shown through justice , peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. How many people during this Lent have you helped as a sign of love? Mother Teresa tells us that if you cannot feed 100 people, feed one.
Let us Pray
We love you, O our God; and we desire to love you more and more. Grant to us that we may love you as much as we desire, and as much as we ought. Give us love, sweetest of all gifts, which knows no enemy. Give us in our hearts pure love, born of your love to us, that we may love others as you love us. O most loving Father of Jesus Christ, from whom flows all love, let our hearts, frozen in sin, cold to you and cold to others, be warmed by this divine fire. So help and bless us in your Son. Amen (Prayer of Anselm)
Be blessed
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