In today’s Gospel reading from Mark 12, Jesus is asked which is the first of all the commandments. Jesus answers to love God, and love your neighbor as yourself. When a scribe echoed this back to Jesus, He said to the scribe, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
We see some beautiful imagery in the first reading from Hosea 14. God tells the people that if they repent, “I will heal their defection, says the LORD, I will love them freely.” Notice that the healing takes place after repentance.
I believe that much (if not most) or our sinfulness comes from some kind of wound. When we are wounded, we lash out, often turning our backs on and lashing out at God. God’s deepest desire is to heal those wounds. But He can’t heal them until we give them up to Him in the first place. If you’ve found yourself in a particular pattern of sin, ask God to reveal your wound, then repent of your sin and offer that wound up to Him so that He may heal you.
Father, we repent of our sins and give you all of our wounds. Touch them and heal them with your gentle and merciful love. Amen.
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