May the Lord give you grace and peace in the Holy Spirit to return to our loving Father. It is on 17th March 2023.
We reflect on Hosea 14:2-10 and from Mark 12:28-34.
What are the idols we secretly worship that make us far from God?
Lent is the time to be back to God. “Return to your Daddy, return to your Father. He is waiting for you and will throw a feast for you,” says Pope Francis.
Everyone is expected to return to the Lord to experience God’s love. We are all eligible for God’s love no matter what was our past. Our proximity to God brings a lot of blessings to our lives. Coming closer to God is proof of our repentance.
Our attachment to idols deprives the blessings we should be enjoying at this point in our life.
“I am like an evergreen cypress; your faithfulness comes from me.” (Hos.14:8). The prophet Hosea presents us with the positive and powerful love of God as evergreen and deeply rooted. To become aware of God’s unconditional and non-judgemental love in us and others is the main task of Lent.
The responsorial Psalm intercedes, “I am the Lord your God: listen to my voice.”
Jesus answers a teacher of law by filtering the entire law into two. The commandment of love precedes every other law. Without loving God and experiencing the love of God, we are incapable of loving others. The source and origin of love are God from whom we have the power to love others. Without loving others, it is impossible to worship God. Whenever we are far from our neighbours, we tend to forget God. We need constantly watch our attachments to idols such as materialism, individualism, and secularism.
‘To love God with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbour as oneself,’. this is much more important that all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” (Mk.12:33). Our love for God is much due.
In one of his homilies on Hosea, His holiness encourages him to return to the Father as early as possible. “If you don’t find a priest to go to confession, speak to God. He is your Father. Tell Him the truth: ‘Lord. I did this and this and this. Pardon me.’ Ask His forgiveness with all your heart with an Act of Contrition, and promise Him, ‘afterwards I will go to confession, but forgive me now.’ You will return to God’s grace immediately. You yourself can draw near to God’s forgiveness, as the Catechism teaches us, without having a priest at hand.”
Everything in us needs to be directed toward loving God while we need to care for others as we care for ourselves. What we need for God is adoring love while we need adorning love towards the other. Consistent with acknowledging the image of God in others, we come closer to God in love.
May we truly and genuinely love others as we are committed to loving God. Have a lovely day. God bless you.