Faithful Relationship is number one

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today underline the goal of those on the journey to remain faithful to their relationship with the Divine. The Prophet Hosea, we are reminded by Friar Jude Winkler, struggled with a wife who had great difficulty in being faithful to him. Hosea saw the struggle of Israel to be faithful to the will of God in the experience he lived. The northern kingdom, at the time, was attempting to curry favour with the Assyrian kingdom by adopting their gods and worship practices. The rich life of intimacy with God can be sensed in the description of the goodness of the land which shall be blessed with the sights and smells of Lebanon. The distraction of the gods which appeal to our senses will never outdo the sensual overpowering of intimacy with God. The psalmist details the desire of God to delight in His people with whom so much has been done to take them to freedom from false gods. The stubborn hearts which choose to follow paths of their own desires are reminded of the consequence which removes them from knowing the overwhelming generosity and graciousness of life in communion with God. Friar Jude points out Jesus acknowledging the wisdom of a Scribe, in the Gospel from Mark, who understood the Great Commandment  which places our relationship with God at the full attention of our thought, emotion, spirit, desire and strength. The "horizontal dimension" of our faith, the love of neighbour, will follow as a consequence of the practice of the "vertical dimension" of desiring deeper intimacy with God.