The psalmist declares “may they perish at the rebuke of your
countenance”. This assertion from the texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary
today voices the sense of the seriousness of the invitation of God to humanity
to be in intimate communion. The Prophet Hosea writes of the northern kingdom
of Israel (Ephraim) as a son and reveals the love of God for the people of
Israel in images of care, teaching and lifting the child intimately to your
cheek. The face of God is in contact even with those who decide to reject Him.
Israel lives out the consequence of the rejection of the social values learned
from God and the failure to seek the counsel of God through prayer and liturgy
in the conquest of the kingdom by the Assyrians. The Gospel of Matthew presents
instructions to those sent by Jesus to bring the Word of the nearness of God to
their lives. Friar Jude Winkler explains that the Gospel of Matthew was likely
completed by a disciple of Matthew who was a converted Pharisee. This person
could not use the phrase the “Kingdom of God” because of Jewish tradition not
to write the Name of God. The Kingdom of Heaven which is near and being
presented through actions of mercy, love, forgiveness and healing will be received
by some. The action of the evangelist is to trust in God and let the peace of
the message be appreciated and received. The evangelist shows that all the
support for the mission is from God. Matthew is concerned that the rejection of
the overwhelming desire of God for a deep relationship with people will bring disastrous
consequence. The society of Israel in the time of Hosea did not relate their
social and political decay to rejection of God. What evidence of social,
economic and political decay in our time is consequential to rejection of the
invitation to the Kingdom?
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