What is your goal in life – what drives you each and every day?  Today’s Gospel clearly provides the answer to that profound question.  The answer that the world’s culture continually seeks to avoid, by distracting us from our true mission.  A fact that is especially heartbreaking during this Easter Season.

Our first reading from Hosea provides the perfect introduction to the concept of what needs to be our life’s focus.   Hosea had the unenviable assignment from God to address what was happening when his people stray from their God and what they know is true.  They were distracted by the world which promised blessings through a seemingly endless stream of what turned out to be Godless kings.  Hosea preached many long years that the pain Israel was experiencing was the direct results of turning away from God.  Finally God’s message got through,  in chapter 14, we see that Israel simply needed to return to the Lord.   God was there to heal their defection, to love them freely, to provide unimaginable blessings.  “Let him who is wise understand these things; let him who is prudent know them.”

In the Responsorial Psalm for today, the solution to these worldly influences requires the turning back to God – “to hear His voice” – to turn from the worship of other gods.  Here again we hear God’s promise “if only my people would hear me” – then God would indeed bless them.

Today’s “Verse Before the Gospel” from Matthew provides us with the first critical step in addressing our tendency to stray from the path God has for each of us =  Repent - for the Kingdom of God is at hand.    

This all leads us to the incredibly clear solution Jesus offers in our Gospel from the 12th chapter from Mark.  Jesus begins with “Hear, O Israel !  The Lord our God is Lord alone !”.  He then goes on to outline what that command looks like in our day-to-day life.  We must love our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength.  I am not sure how Jesus could have possibly made it any clearer.  The goal of our life must be staying 100% focused upon loving and serving God with our whole being.  That includes, as Jesus went on to teach, that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. 

It sounds so simple, why then would those in Hosea’s time (or for that matter - for all of us today) fail to consistently follow Jesus’ clear instructions.  Isn’t it our ultimate goal as stated in verse 34 of Mark 12 “to draw near to the Kingdom of God”.  Throughout today’s readings we see that it has always been mankind’s propensity to allow the world to lead us astray.   No matter how challenging it becomes, our only solution is to turn to Jesus,  to love our Savior wholeheartedly.  For He can and will provide us with the strength to maintain our unconditional focus upon our loving God.

Dear Heavenly Father,  you know our hearts.  We truly desire to draw closer to you, to keep an unwavering focus upon you. Please help us to avoid the evil our world is tirelessly pushing upon us and those we love.  You are our strength and shield, and we rely on your help to cleanse us of all evil.  In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen.