Saturday of the Third Week of Lent - March 29

Hosea 6:1-6 Luke 18:9-14

Note: reflection is reprinted from the 2019 edition of this annual resource.

My New Year’s resolution in 2019 is to read the bible from cover to cover. As I was reading the Noah’s Ark story in Genesis, I wondered about our own fate in these current times when devastating weather anomalies, political issues divide the country and senseless mass shootings happen on a regular basis. Are we any different from those people in Noah’s time that were killed by the flood? Then, I think about the conversation between God and Abraham, when Abraham asks God if he will destroy Sodom even if there are 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, or 10 righteous people left there. And God responded that, even for the sake of just 10 righteous people, he will not destroy it.

Like the Israelites in Hosea’s time who sought material possessions, worshiped idols and moved farther away from God, we, too, can become spiritually apathetic. I think Lent is about returning to the Lord with our heart rather than our deeds. God gives us SO much. We need to be grateful for everything with which he has blessed us; even the challenges. When you awake in the morning, put your feet on the floor and thank God for the beautiful day ahead—for the body he has given you, for the food in your kitchen, for the job that supports you, for the family that greets you and the thousand other things God gives us. Thank him from your heart for the love he bestows on us.

All God asks in return is to love him; really love him, above all else, and to love and treat each other with dignity and respect. This is the first and greatest commandment that Jesus proclaims in today’s gospel. I pray that we all come to know and love our Father God through our Lenten activities and that we experience His love forever.

Q: How have I expressed my love for God and others today?

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