14th Week, Wednesday, Jul 10
Hosea 10:1-3, 7-8, 12 / Matthew 10:1-7
The northern kingdom was prospering when Hosea began
to prophesy in Israel. In fact, this is what stirred Hosea into action. He
rebuked the nation, saying that the more fruitful their orchards were, the more
altars they built for false gods; and the more productive their fields were,
the more pillars they erected to pagan idols. Hosea warned the people that they
must reform. If they didn’t, punishment would descend upon them. It would be so
severe as to make them “call out in the mountains, ‘Hide us!’ and to the hills,
‘Cover us!’” But Hosea might as well have been talking to a brick wall. When
stomachs and pocketbooks are full, warnings fall on deaf ears.
****
How aware are we of the dangers of too much
prosperity? “It will be very hard for rich people to enter the Kingdom of
heaven.” Matthew 19:23
****
Basic common sense will tell us that for the most
important jobs, we would pick the most qualified people to do it. Or at least
people with a certain level of intelligence and capabilities that will do
justice to the task. Strange that Jesus did not follow this principle. For the
proclamation of the kingdom, He chose 12 men. Most, if not all of them, would
be automatically written off from the board of directors or executives of any
organization.
In doing so, this is what Jesus is telling us. Even for the simplest of persons, God has a task and a mission for him. God does not write off anyone. But we can write ourselves off. This happens when we become too proud of ourselves and do not rely on God anymore. We become like Israel in the 1st reading - the richer they became, the more idols they began to worship. We do not need high qualifications to do the most important things in life.
In fact, we just need basic common sense to know what it is. And it is there in the 1st reading when it says: Sow integrity for yourselves, reap a harvest of kindness. It is time to go seeking the Lord until He comes to rain salvation on you.
*****In doing so, this is what Jesus is telling us. Even for the simplest of persons, God has a task and a mission for him. God does not write off anyone. But we can write ourselves off. This happens when we become too proud of ourselves and do not rely on God anymore. We become like Israel in the 1st reading - the richer they became, the more idols they began to worship. We do not need high qualifications to do the most important things in life.
In fact, we just need basic common sense to know what it is. And it is there in the 1st reading when it says: Sow integrity for yourselves, reap a harvest of kindness. It is time to go seeking the Lord until He comes to rain salvation on you.
PROCLAIM THE GOOD
NEWS
Introduction
In the name of God, the prophet Hosea scolds the people of
Israel, who have let prosperity lead them into a hypocritical religion. He
calls them to conversion. Jesus sends out his apostles as healers of the ills
of people so that the new era of the kingdom of God can begin. They, and we
too, have to be healers in a world that is harsh and pitiless and much in need
of healing. Let the forgiveness and compassionate love we receive from God
renew this world and make it God’s world and kingdom.
Opening Prayer
Lord our God, you let your Son Jesus entrust his good news
of healing and liberation to simple and weak people. Make us much more aware,
Lord, that the good news of the kingdom is fundamentally human, accessible and
easy to understand. Let this good news grow in us and transform us deeply and
fill us with the healing love of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Commentary
In many books of the Old Testament, we read accounts of
repeated failure. Perhaps no one describes God’s favor and human negligence as
graphically as Hosea. In today’s reading, Israel is described as a luxurious
vine with abundant fruit. The children of the covenant, favored with God’s law,
had a future that was assured. But what resulted? Altars to pagan gods;
productivity turned into wasted ingratitude. Their sacrifices, tainted with
idolatry, were worth nothing. Their only future would be a return to bondage. And
yet hope for that dawn of a better was never lost. It came, although it turned
out differently than expected. It involved a kingdom with a different kind of
king. It came at a moment of strong eschatological hope, but it did not follow
the path of ordinary expectations. It was a kingdom of gentleness and humility.
Its king came humble and riding on a donkey. This new kingdom introduced a time
of forgiveness and hope, an opportunity to let the past be forgotten. Announced
to Israel by unlettered Galilean laborers, it would soon spread to the world.
The kingdom of God is at hand. It is now present in our hearts and on our lips.
We now live in the era of the great pardon.
Points to Ponder
Formalistic religion
The unexpected character of Christianity
Grateful for forgiveness
Intercessions
– That our commitment
to the work of justice and our sense of service may bear witness that the
kingdom of God is alive among us, we pray:
– That the Lord may call many priests, religious and
committed laypersons to announce the good news to the world, we pray:
– That in our Christian communities we may receive and live
the word of God with open hearts and great zeal, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Our loving God, you have given us without charge this bread
and wine. Turn them by the power of the Holy Spirit into your best free gift to
us, your Son Jesus Christ. Dispose us to keep him not to ourselves but to share
him with all those around us without any other preference than that of Jesus: the
poor, the needy, and the little people. May this be the sign that we are your
people, that your kingdom is growing among us and that you are our God now and
forever.
Prayer after
Communion
Lord our God, again we ask of you to make us more your
people of the covenant. Through Jesus, your Son-with-us, make us all one, praying
and working together to build up your kingdom among people. Let none of us be
an uncommitted spectator but make each of us fully aware that, weak and
fallible as we are, you need us and want us to be a holy people, the sign to
all of your lasting goodness. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Blessing
God sends us to be healers and to proclaim with our lives
that the kingdom of heaven is here and growing in our world. May almighty God
bless you for this task, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.