Friday of the Third Week of Lent

1. Lectio

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
“Which is the first of all the commandments?”

Jesus replied:

“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.”

Mark 12:28-34

First of all, responsibility. Depending on the role we play, responsibility can be understood as honesty, transparency, courage, farsightedness, the duty of sharing knowledge or the right to be informed. As a general principle, however, no one can elude personal responsibility for the future we are building.

A possible alliance

If Communion, the Centennial pillar for March, calls me to walk together in shared responsibility for the future we are building, am I willing to let love guide my honesty, transparency, and courage so that the world we create truly reflects Christ?

2. Meditatio

There are moments when the simplicity of the Gospel feels almost scandalous.

Today’s commandment is so disarmingly short that it seems hardly sufficient to govern a world that appears determined to destroy itself with such complicated machinery.

At the very moment when Christ declares that the entire law is summarized in love, my country seems busy demonstrating that the world can be summarized in quite the opposite.

War rages in distant deserts. Bombs fall from the sky and sometimes land on places they were never meant to land—schools, homes, the small and fragile places where children should be safe.

The official explanation, of course, is that war is hell.

And perhaps it is.

But I cannot help noticing that the Gospel did not say:

“Thou shalt organize thy wars efficiently.”

It said:

“Thou shalt love.”

And so while the world shouts its philosophies of destruction, I stumble upon a small and oddly hopeful news item in my own Diocese:

A Catholic speed dating event for young adults.

Now there is something delightfully absurd about the idea of attempting to locate one’s future spouse at high velocity.

Yet the absurdity is precisely what makes it Christian.

For while governments may be racing toward conflict, young Catholics are apparently racing toward something infinitely more revolutionary—

The possibility of love.

The Church, it seems, continues its quiet rebellion against despair. So much so that Bishop Daniel himself has put it on his schedule.

While missiles are launched with great seriousness by men in suits, somewhere in Amarillo young Catholics are gathering in a ballroom simply to meet one another.

And in that small and almost laughably ordinary act lies something far more subversive than any weapon.

For every marriage that begins in such a room is a declaration that love still believes in the future.

And if the world is ever to survive its endless wars, it will not be because of superior firepower.

It will be because ordinary people stubbornly continue to believe Christ when He says that love is the greatest commandment.

3. Contemplatio (Chestertonian Synthesis)

Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.

The commandment to love God and neighbor is not complicated.

It is merely terrifying in its implications.

For if we truly believed it, our politics would change, our conversations would change, and even our impatience in grocery lines would change.

The Kingdom of God is not far from those who understand this.

But understanding it and living it are separated by a distance that only grace can cross.

4. Oratio

5. Actio — In Light of Laudato Si’ and Synodality

Francis helps us to see that an integral ecology calls for openness to categories which transcend the language of mathematics and biology, and take us to the heart of what it is to be human. Just as happens when we fall in love with someone, whenever he would gaze at the sun, the moon or the smallest of animals, he burst into song, drawing all other creatures into his praise.

Laudato si’ §11

True peace grows from relationships rooted in care, respect, and solidarity. Synodality invites the Church to build communion rather than division.

Today I will practice one small act of love—listening patiently, encouraging someone, or offering kindness where irritation would be easier.

6. Song Pairing 🎵

🎶 “Looking for Love” — Johnny Lee🎵

7. Movie Pairing 🎬

🎬Movie: Love Actually (2003)

My Story

• Bishop Matthiesen, who rode the white horse of public activism even as he brought abusive priests into our diocese such as John Salazar—wounds that still mark us today. I spoke with him often, pleading with him to reconsider his “no regrets” about bringing those priests here…
• Bishop Yanta, who sought to enforce the Dallas Charter even when Bishop Matthiesen resisted him, and who bore the personal and pastoral cost of doing so. I met with Bishop Yanta about Bishop Matthiessen’s “no regrets” stance. He listened. He believed me. He acted where he could. And when he retired, he urged me—quietly but firmly—to keep speaking out.
• Bishop Zurek, who told the Diocese of Amarillo he had “no facts” about the Philadelphia report even as Amarillo’s connection to that tragedy was headline news. When I continued to speak out, as Bishop Yanta had once urged me to do, he later wrote that I was not among the faithful and loyal disciples whom the Lord Jesus desires.
• Bishop Daniel Cardinal DiNardo…

While we recognize your thoughtful suggestion for a renewed dialogue on Bishop Matthiesen, the present circumstances do not present an opportunity for it. I think it would foster division not dialogue. We remain confident in God’s providence and hopeful for what the future may bring.

from a letter dated March 5, 2026