DAILY READINGS & REFLECTION
MARCH 8, 2024
FRIDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF LENT
(OPTIONAL MEMORIAL OF SAINT JOHN OF GOD, RELIGIOUS)
FIRST READING
HOSEA 14:2-10 OR (1 JOHN 3:14-18)
2 Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt. 3 Take with you words and return to the LORD; say to him, "Take away all iniquity; accept that which is good and we will render the fruit of our lips. 4 Assyria shall not save us, we will not ride upon horses; and we will say no more, `Our God,' to the work of our hands. In thee the orphan finds mercy." 5 I will heal their faithlessness; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them. 6 I will be as the dew to Israel; he shall blossom as the lily, he shall strike root as the poplar; 7 his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon. 8 They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow, they shall flourish as a garden; they shall blossom as the vine, their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon. 9 O E'phraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress, from me comes your fruit. 10 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the LORD are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.
The Word of the Lord
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
PSALMS 80(81):6-11, 14, 17 OR (PSALMS 112:1-9)
Response: I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
He made it a decree in Joseph,
when he went out over the land of Egypt.
I hear a voice I had not known:
“I relieved your shoulder of the burden;
your hands were freed from the basket.
In distress you called, and I delivered you."
R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
"I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Mer′ibah.
Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!
O Israel, if you would but listen to me!"
R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
"There shall be no strange god among you;
you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
I am the LORD your God,
who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it."
R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
"O that my people would listen to me,
that Israel would walk in my ways!
I would feed you with the finest of the wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
R. I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
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GOSPEL
You are not far from the kingdom of God
MARK 12:28-34 OR (MATTHEW 25:31-40)
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?" 29 Jesus answered, "The first is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' 31 The second is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." 32 And the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that he is one, and there is no other but he; 33 and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And after that no one dared to ask him any question.
The Gospel of the Lord
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REFLECTION
DAILY QUOTE FROM THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
The fire of God's love, by Augustine of Hippo,354-430 A.D.
"Gravity keeps everything in its own place. Fire climbs up, while a stone goes down. Elements that are not in their own place are restless until they find it. This applies also to us. My weight is my love; wherever I go, I am driven by it. By the love of God we catch fire ourselves and, by moving up, find our place and our rest."
(excerpt from Confessions 13,9)
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Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.