Friday March 8, 2024
ST JOHN OF GOD, REL. (Opt. Mommem.)
Office: Psalter Week 3
Mass prop., Preface of Lent
Vestment: Violet
Today’s Rosary: The Sorrowful Mystery
Click HERE for the Previous Catholic Daily Reading
First Reading
“We will say no more, ‘Our God, to the work of our hands.”
A reading from the Book of the Prophet Hosea 14:1-9
Thus says the Lord: Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. 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. 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 you the orphan finds mercy.” I will heal their faithlessness; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them. I will be as the dew to Israel; he shall blossom as the lily, he shall strike root as the poplar, his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon. 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. O Ephraim, 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. 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.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm81:6c-8a.8bc-9.10—11ab.1 4and 17 (R. 11a.9b)
R/. I am the Lord your God: listen to my voice.
A voice I did not know said to me:
“I freed your shoulder from the burden;
your hands were freed from the builder’s basket.
You called in distress and I delivered you.” R/.
“I answered, concealed in the thunder;
at the waters of Meribah I tested you.
Listen, my people, as I warn you.
O Israel, if only you would heed!” R/.
R/. I am the Lord your God: listen to my voice.
“Let there be no strange god among you,
nor shall you worship a foreign god.
I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” R/.
“O that my people would heed me,
that Israel would walk in my ways!
But Israel I would feed with finest wheat,
and satisfy with honey from the rock.” R/.
Also Read: Daily Reading for Thursady, March 7th, 2024
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION Matthew 4:17
Glory and praise to you, O Christ. Repent, says the Lord, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Glory and praise to you, O Christ.
GOSPEL
“The Lord our God, the Lord is one, and you shall love him.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 12:28b-34)
At that time: One of the scribes came up to Jesus and asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; 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.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 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; and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbour as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 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.
TODAY’S SAINT AND QUOTE: St John of God – March 8th
A saint who was once committed to a mental hospital? St John of God’s story will fascinate you, while his service for the sick and poor will inspire you.
-Love the poor tenderly, regarding them as your masters and yourselves as their servants.
TODAY’S REFLECTION
The Hebrew Scriptures, our own Old Testament, contain a multitude of commandments. The scribe in today’s Gospel wanted to know which of them was the first Jesus gave the answer. The first was to love God above all things, with every atom of your being. But he would not let the scribe get away without also learning the second commandment, which was to love your neighbour as yourself. These two commandments always go together. It is not possible to love God without loving our neighbour, just as it is hypocritical to say that we love our neighbour when we don’t love God.
PERSONAL DEVOTIONAL FOR LENT
Accepting yourself the way you are is the best way to go in developing oneself. If you reject yourself it will be very difficult for you to develop. Know it today that you are the only copy of yourself in the whole world, that is to say, you are uniquely made by God and God did not make any mistake in creating you. Therefore, see yourself as the best of God and then work hard everyday to represent the one who has made you to be the best.
Today, cheer yourself up and say to yourself, “I am the best of my kind” strive to be the best always without trying to undermine others. Stay unique as you are created by God and continue to make our world more beautiful with your personality.
Let Us Pray,
Lord Jesus, I surrender all to you. Amen.
Daily Reading for Friday March 8, 2024
Reading 1, Hosea 14:2-10
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 81:6-8, 8-9, 10-11, 14, 17
Gospel, Mark 12:28-34
Reading 1, Hosea 14:2-10
2 Israel, come back to Yahweh your God your guilt was the cause of your downfall.
3 Provide yourself with words and come back to Yahweh. Say to him, ‘Take all guilt away and give us what is good, instead of bulls we will dedicate to you our lips.
4 Assyria cannot save us, we will not ride horses any more, or say, “Our God!” to our own handiwork, for you are the one in whom orphans find compassion.’
5 I shall cure them of their disloyalty, I shall love them with all my heart, for my anger has turned away from them.
6 I shall fall like dew on Israel, he will bloom like the lily and thrust out roots like the cedar of Lebanon;
7 he will put out new shoots, he will have the beauty of the olive tree and the fragrance of Lebanon.
8 They will come back to live in my shade; they will grow wheat again, they will make the vine flourish, their wine will be as famous as Lebanon’s.
9 What has Ephraim to do with idols any more when I hear him and watch over him? I am like an evergreen cypress, you owe your fruitfulness to me.
10 Let the wise understand these words, let the intelligent grasp their meaning, for Yahweh’s ways are straight and the upright will walk in them, but sinners will stumble.
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 81:6-8, 8-9, 10-11, 14, 17
6 ‘I freed his shoulder from the burden, his hands were able to lay aside the labourer’s basket.
7 You cried out in your distress, so I rescued you. ‘Hidden in the storm, I answered you, I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
8 Listen, my people, while I give you warning; Israel, if only you would listen to me!
9 ‘You shall have no strange gods, shall worship no alien god.
10 I, Yahweh, am your God, who brought you here from Egypt, you have only to open your mouth for me to fill it.
11 ‘My people would not listen to me, Israel would have none of me.
14 at one stroke I would subdue their enemies, turn my hand against their opponents.
Gospel, Mark 12:28-34
28 One of the scribes who had listened to them debating appreciated that Jesus had given a good answer and put a further question to him, ‘Which is the first of all the commandments?’
29 Jesus replied, ‘This is the first: Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the one, only Lord,
30 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.
31 The second is this: You must love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.’
32 The scribe said to him, ‘Well spoken, Master; what you have said is true, that he is one and there is no other.
33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself, this is far more important than any burnt offering or sacrifice.’
34 Jesus, seeing how wisely he had spoken, said, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And after that no one dared to question him any more.
