Fourteenth week in Ordinary Time
Hosea 11: 1-4, 8-9; Matthew 10: 7-15
These days, we have been having the first readings from the book of Hosea. Hosea is an incredible prophet. Today’s first reading vividly presents YHWH’s anguished love for His beloved children – Israel. God is a passionate parent who laments over the sins of Israel, His beloved children. This passage is one of the outstanding love poems in the Old Testament. Oftentimes, we tend to presume that the God presented in the Old Testament is angry, violent, and judgmental. Hosea opens up the heart of God and leads us to the depth and width of God’s love and compassion.
Glimpse inside God’s Heart: God is not an idea or a concept. Hosea presents God as a person, a loving, passionate parent, a parent who loves the children to death. Hosea’s words relay before us, the broken heart of our Divine parent. It is a soliloquy; God speaks his thoughts in a personal and emotional way for all of us to hear. God beautifully recounts the days when He lavished Israel with love, called him son, taught him to walk, taught him to speak, dressed him and cleaned him, carried him in His arms, played with him, bent down to feed him. YHWH is a zealous parent. YHWH lavished Israel with his abundance of love, only to be repaid with rebellion and betrayal. We can sense the pathos of a zealous father over the destruction of his beloved child.
Does God get angry, say hard things and punish? Of course He does. Which parent does not when their child wanders into self-destructive ways? Does God say hard things? Of course, He does. Which parent doesn’t when years of love are despised for the sake of cheap and fleeting pleasures? Does God punish? Yes, a loving parent will do anything to get their children back to a godly way of life. Punishment is not to inflict pain or suffering but to redirect towards a prosperous future.
Does God give up?: Our God never ever gives up. How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over Israel? In spite of God’s tender love, Israel consistently and stubbornly sinned and wandered off to worship other gods. Like a rebellious toddler running away from the parents to an attractive toy stall or sweet store. God is not like us humans. There is a limit to human love. There are explicit and implicit conditions in human love. Sometimes, we get angry, lose our temper, we can not control ourselves. Sometimes our children/friends/relatives push us beyond our limits and we never speak to them again. But God’s love does not run out of love, has no limits and especially demands no conditions. God loves and does not give up.
In the Gospel, Jesus instructs the twelve disciples to share such unconditional love with everyone.
Our Takeaway
1. God loves me.
2. God does get angry, scold me and punish me when I deserve it.
3. God never gives up on me.
Wilson SVD
Divine Word Missionary
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