Today, 4TH of July, here in the United States, we celebrate our Independence Day, the 246th anniversary of our dear country. May God continue to guide and protect all Americans as we are called to be the “One Nation under God…. with liberty and justice for all. Happy 4th.
This week, our first readings during Mass come from the prophet Hosea. We read in the scriptures how Jesus called the apostles by telling them “follow me” and they just followed him. It looks easy, don’t it. What would you do if you are told by God to marry a fille de joie, a hooker, a prostitute? That was exactly what God told the prophet Hosea. Not only that, God also wanted Hosea to continue to care for and love her even though she may be unfaithful, even if she returns to her old lifestyle of prostitution. God uses this life experience to show how much love God has for us. Saint Paul puts it well: “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Even though we are sinners and have again and again forsaken and broken our relationship with GOD, He is willing to love and forgive our continued unfaithfulness, and harlotry. God pours out compassion, healing and divine love upon us. God will never stop loving us.
Saint Augustine also prayed: “Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.”
In the First Reading, we God says, “I will allure her (Israel); I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart. She shall respond there as in the days of her youth, when she came up from the land of Egypt….. I will espouse you to me forever: I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy; I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know the LORD.” Here God’s love and compassion for Israel is compared to a loving husband who is willing to forgive and renew a relationship broken by an unfaithful wife.
In the Gospel, Jesus shows compassion and a desire to heal a “dead” girl and a woman suffering from hemorrhages. The death of a child at any age is the greatest fear of all parents. When your child dies, you lose not only your child but your hopes and dreams for the future. The same love, compassion, and healing experienced by these two women is offered to us as we continue to turn to the Lord Jesus.
Notwithstanding our infirmities, brokenness, wickedness, faithlessness, infidelities, he still loves us. “The healthy do not need a doctor, but a sick person do. I have come not for the righteous but for sinners, Jesus said. I am a sinner. He came for me.
May we never forget that the mercy of God is unconditional. Our weakness reveals God’s mercy. You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you. (Psalm 85:5) The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. (Psalm 145:9). Have a blessed week
