Friday of the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

Foreword: Please join me this week on a journey, as we follow the Church’s readings through the Book of Hosea, an ancient prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel. I think you and I both will discover that the life and message of Hosea are still relevant and needed today. Reading Hosea can help us to understand and appreciate more God’s love for us in Christ Jesus.

Today’s reading from the last chapter of Hosea offers hope to Israel, although God is sending them into exile after all they have done. The LORD is just: Israel, remember, followed after other gods and appointed their own rulers, and was unfaithful to God and the covenant, like an unfaithful wife to her husband.

Yet, the LORD is gracious and merciful: Israel’s hope is in God’s faithful love who will forgive their sins when they repent. “I will heal their defection, I will love them freely; for my wrath is turned away from them” (Hos 14:5). Those who return to the LORD are to bring words, not animal sacrifice, to atone for sin (cf. 14:3). It is a contrite heart and humbled spirit that God desires as an offering (cf. Ps. 51:19). God will forgive their iniquity and be like the dew upon dry ground, and Israel will be like a beautiful flower or like a strong tree with deep roots and pleasant fragrance (cf. 14:6-7).

Such vivid imagery from the prophet Hosea that sticks in the memory better and can more easily seep into the heart than a moral theological treatise. The last verse in Hosea (14:10), a kind of last word, calls us to remember these things and all that has happened to the people of Israel, spanning over a thousand years. It is the story of God and his people before the coming of Christ, which is, in fact, the culmination of that story. For Christ would perform his own Exodus (cf. Lk 9:31) and gather all the peoples of the earth into one family under the mantle of his cross (cf. Jn 12:32).

Action: I challenge you to get familiar with the story of the Old Testament. The best way to do that is with patience, perseverance, and prayer—and a good study aid. I recommend The Great Adventure Bible Timeline from Ascension Press. You may not need a bulky commentary; just read the text itself, although footnotes are helpful.

Reflection by Br. Luke Kral, OSB