Friday 3rd Week of Lent A 2026

Gospel 

Mark 12:28-34

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
“Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus replied, “The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall 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 shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.”
The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
He is One and there is no other than he.
And to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding, 
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

 

Jesus gives us the way here.

He has said in words we can understand … in two commands he enables us to easily identify what we should do for eternal life.

 

Love God above all else and with all you have. He is our first priority. He is who we love the greatest and when we prioritize everything under him, we love others better.

 

Love others and take care of them as well as you take care of yourself. This allows us to love ourself as much as others. For by giving ourself and our blessings to others we find worth in our hearts. We see ourselves as more than just another self centered person but we start to see Jesus within us working. It starts when we become Jesus for others and care for them. Sacrifice for them. Love them.

 

So simple a message that even the scribe saw it. The scribe sought truth through scripture and his eyes were open.

 

Let us also open our eyes more to his commands for us.

This Lent lets us grow closer to these two ideals. These recipes for following Jesus and being part of the kingdom.

 

How long will we wait until we put his will ahead of our own and come back to him in gratitude for his blessings.

Repent.

Turn back to God. Pray. Give some of what you have to others. These are the actions of someone seeking Jesus this Lent.

These are the actions of someone following Jesus’ teachings.