The first reading from the book of the prophet Hosea is absolutely beautiful today. This reading portrays God’s deep, tender, and abiding love for Israel, but also for all of us as well. God’s love for us is so profoundly tender, compassionate, and full of love, and He seeks what is good for His children, just like any earthly father would do.
The prophet Hosea wrote:
“When Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son. The more I called them, the farther they went from me, sacrificing to the Baals and burning Incense to idols. Yet, it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, who took them in my arms; I drew them with human cords, with the bands of love; I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks; yet, though I stooped to feed my child, they did not know that I was their healer.”
Surely any parent that reads this today, can relate to how tenderly and completely God loves us. As Christians, our heritage is from the Israelite people. God loves us just as tenderly and compassionately. He is a lot like modern parents though, who loved, nurtured and cared for their babies, but then they grew up and left to pursue things other than their faith. It hurts parents today to see their children leave home and pursue different things and different values, from what their parents honestly tried to instill in them.
To say the word ‘God’ or ‘Jesus’ can almost become offensive to those who have strayed from the faith sometimes, at any age. The more you attempt to speak of your faith, the more non-believers or fallen away Christians seem to recoil or distance themselves, just like those in the first reading for mass today. And though God pursues them with tender love and compassion, with the desire to heal their sufferings, non-believers do not know God, or that He is ‘their healer’ like the first reading mentions today.
The good news is that God said His heart was overwhelmed and His pity stirred. He would not give vent to His anger again and destroy those He loves, for He is the Holy One who lives among us, not as a mortal man. What is amazing about this reading besides the fact God restrains His anger against those who abandon Him, is that God seems to have many of the same emotions we do. He is a being with feelings a lot like us, even if we can not physically see Him. This seems to be the problem throughout the ages, that we can not physically see God. He can’t be detected with our five senses. But, neither can love. There is no way to physically detect love and yet it exists. We all know that love is just as real as the physical things of this world. Still, this remains mankind’s problem, that we have trouble knowing God, because we can not prove He exists in the physical realm, but only in the heart. We should ask non-believers if they have someone they love in their life? Can they prove their love for them exists in the physical world?
Jesus proves his love for his people in the gospel today, by sending out his twelve disciples to cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons and proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven. Miracles are proof of the supernatural power of God, that Jesus really is divine and the son of God. No one has ever raised someone from the dead in modern times, after four days. This is impossible by human abilities. Do non-believers think that the miracles that Christ performed were not true? Something pretty significant happened over 2,000 years ago because mankind still hasn’t stopped talking about it. Nothing else has lasted that long. This fact alone should give credibility to the miracles and stories that are told about Jesus.
However, Jesus knew that even in the face of miracles, some people would still refuse to believe in him. He told his disciples to shake the sand off their feet when they left a non-believer’s home or a city that refused to listen.
One other thing that is worth noting about the gospel is that Jesus would not let his disciples bring money or possessions with them, and he would not allow them to accept any payment for what they did. This may have been in part, because it gives even greater credibility if there is nothing in it for the person who proclaims God’s word. If you are paid well for proclaiming the kingdom of God, then your motives could be questioned. Are you doing it for money or for love of Jesus?
That is what is so awesome about our priests, bishops, nuns, religious and deacons. They proclaim the kingdom of God without financial benefit for themselves. The few that have failed in this regard, Pope Francis has taken them to task over it. Greed or material gain damages the credible witness that Christians give to the world.
Jesus told his disciples in today’s gospel, “Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give. Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts ….. The laborer deserves his keep.” It is ok to serve Christ’s church and support your family and provide for your basic needs, we are just not supposed to accumulate wealth from those we serve, or else our motives could be questioned.
Belief in God is a fragile thing sometimes. We have to be careful of how we conduct ourselves in the communities we live in. We all make mistakes and do things wrong sometimes, that is what confession is for, but we should try to be aware that we give witness to our belief in God and in Jesus Christ, by our lives. We need to be careful to not let our guard down and act in a manner that is contrary to our Christian beliefs, because it will discredit what we say we believe. To be a credible witness, is to be credible in the little things too. That would be a good thought to think about for the rest of the day.
Daily Mass Readings:
Hosea 11: 1-4, 8c-9 / Psalm 80 / Matthew 10: 7-13
