March 14, 2026 // Saturday of the Third Week of Lent

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Hosea 6:1-6

Reflect on the Word //

I find myself sleepless most nights, partly because of physical discomfort and partly because of the many thoughts floating around in my head. My daughter’s arrival is near. At thirty-nine weeks pregnant, I am familiar with this rhythm: I anticipate the aches, the load of to-do’s, the wonders and worries. I often ask myself: Have I done enough today? 

Many of us ponder this question, don’t we? We begin to measure our value or productivity based on the day and what we were able to cross off of a list. At times, I feel so accomplished! I made it to Mass again today. I spent time in the Word. I read my book and drank water. I spent time outside with my children and husband. So it must be good then, right? It was enough for you, wasn’t it Lord?

Today’s First Reading is the reset I often need—especially now. I’m comforted by the words in the first reading, “For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6). The Lord sees all the things, the productive moments, the sacrifices for my family, the opportunities I take for some “me” time. And yet, He loves me despite doing all the things or not. See, when we are occupied with taking time to complete tasks or goals, He is occupied with the matters of our heart. Nothing we do earns more love, yet everything we do should be done in response to His love. 

At the end of the day, when we prepare to lay down our heads and examine our hearts, let us ask ourselves if we have loved well or if we’ve missed the opportunity to return and humble ourselves before the Lord—totally aware of the reality that we are actually so in need for Jesus to be everything. If we fail to run to Him in our need and let Him be present in our day, we take away the opportunity to receive His healing love and share it with others. When we humble ourselves, we come so low that our posture is simply to sit at His feet. There, “He will come to us like the rain” (Hosea 6:3), and make us whole again. 

Relate to the Lord // Take some time to pray with this truth: “Nothing we do earns more love, yet everything we do should be done in response to His love.”