HOMILY OF FRIDAY OF THE 3RD WEEK IN LENT
Hosea 14:2-10, Mark 12:28-34
THEME: GETTING TO THE ROOT OF HUMAN PAINS
The farther we are from God, the more we are prone to errors. It’s only in God’s light that we can see light because he is the absolute light. Although his eyes see us wherever we are, the distance between Him and us is not in terms of time or space, rather it is measured in the degree of our responses to His constant calls. Our heart is our meeting point with God. When the heart is filled with nothing but fleshly desires, it will surely miss God’ beautiful presence.
In today’s first reading, the Lord says,
“Israel, come back to the Lord your God;
your iniquity was the cause of your downfall.
Provide yourself with words
and come back to the Lord.
Say to him, ‘Take all iniquity away
so that we may have happiness again
and offer you our words of praise.
Assyria cannot save us,
we will not ride horses any more,
or say, “Our God!” to what our own hands have made,
for you are the one in whom orphans find compassion.’
– I will heal their disloyalty,
I will love them with all my heart,
for my anger has turned from them.”
God’s thoughts for us are good. Our problems are caused by either personal or collective sins. Our character or attitude towards life is a result of how the society trained us. If we live or are born into a godly home or society, God’s values surely will bring us to our eternal destiny. Even if we deny ourselves of our individual choices, we cannot deny the effect of society on our general life. Hence, the way out is to be conscious of our personal choices and how they affect others. We are meant to make the world the best place to stay.
“One of the scribes came up to Jesus and put a question to
him, ‘Which is the first of all the commandments?’ Jesus
replied, ‘This is the first: Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is
the one Lord, and you must 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 must love your
neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater
than these.”If we love God above all, we will get to realise our identity and we will begin to treat ourselves with respect and through that we are able to treat our fellow humans with equal dignity and respect.
This will help to create a world of love where our only pain will be seen in the efforts and struggle to better the life of others and to create a world of peace.
May the love of God fill our hearts that we may find joy in loving our brothers and sisters. Amen.
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