The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today declare that our efforts to seek the Lord are fruitful because the Kingdom is near.
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The reading from the Prophet Hosea expresses the consequences of Israel’s sin as captivity.
* [10:3] No king: the instability of the monarchy (7:3–7) and its vassalage to foreign kings (7:8–16) render the monarchy ineffective. The kings do the opposite of what they are supposed to do (10:4).1
Psalm 105 praises God’s Faithfulness to Israel.
* [Psalm 105] A hymn to God who promised the land of Canaan to the holy people, cf. Ps 78; 106; 136. Israel is invited to praise and seek the presence of God (Ps 105:1–6), who is faithful to the promise of land to the ancestors (Ps 105:7–11). In every phase of the national story—the ancestors in the land of Canaan (Ps 105:12–15), Joseph in Egypt (Ps 105:16–22), Israel in Egypt (Ps 105:23–38), Israel in the desert on the way to Canaan (Ps 105:39–45)—God remained faithful, reiterating the promise of the land to successive servants.2
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus calls the Twelve Apostles to their Mission.
* [10:5–6] Like Jesus (Mt 15:24), the Twelve are sent only to Israel. This saying may reflect an original Jewish Christian refusal of the mission to the Gentiles, but for Matthew it expresses rather the limitation that Jesus himself observed during his ministry.3
Kyle Lierk compares his relationship with the Divine to a game of hide and seek. In today’s first reading the prophet Hosea calls on Israel to “sow for yourselves justice; reap the fruit of piety...it is time to seek the Lord.” No more hiding behind altars and sacred pillars. The Psalmist takes it a step further and sprinkles in a positive slant: “Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord!” This is meant to be fun!! As kids we understood that. As adults we need to be reminded.
“Seek always the face of the Lord.” (Ps 105:4b)
Keep the game going. Don’t sit this one out. And certainly don’t play small, crouching in some deceptively cozy hiding spot away from God’s loving gaze.
The best part of it all: when we seek, God wants to be found!4
Don Schwager comments that God chose these men, not for what they were, but for what they would be capable of becoming under his direction and power. When the Lord calls us to serve, we must not think we have nothing or very little to offer. The Lord takes what ordinary people, like us, can offer and uses it for greatness in his kingdom. Schwager quotes “Jesus empowers his disciples to act in his name,” by John Chrysostom (347-407 AD).
" If the Spirit had not yet been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified, how then did the disciples cast out the unclean spirits? They did this by his own command, by the Son's authority.2 Note the careful timing of their mission. They were not sent out at the beginning of their walk with him. They were not sent out until they had sufficiently benefited by following him daily. It was only after they had seen the dead raised, the sea rebuked, devils expelled, the legs of a paralytic brought to life, sins remitted, lepers cleansed, and had received a sufficient proof of his power both by deeds and words - only then did he send them out. And he did not send them out unprepared to do dangerous deeds, for as yet there was no danger in Palestine. They had only to stand against verbal abuse. However, Jesus still warned them of larger perils to come, preparing them for what was future." (excerpt from THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 32.3).5
The Word Among us Meditation on Hosea 10:1-3, 7-8, 12 comments that we all have a tendency to worship “false gods,” sometimes without even realizing it. It happens when we let anything take priority over the Lord. When we allow other things to grab our attention or our hearts more than God, or when we seek our joy and comfort in things God has created more than in God himself, we have in essence made them idols.
What’s the solution? Hosea tells the people, quite simply, “It is time to seek the Lord” (10:12). Seek the Lord when you cling to your own strength instead of relying on God’s grace. Seek the Lord when you find yourself rearranging your schedule to fit in more screen time and end up squeezing out your prayer time. Seek the Lord when you realize you are doing things to please other people because you care more about their opinion of you than what God thinks. Seek the Lord when you are tempted to place career success above time with your family.6
Friar Jude Winkler explains how the northern kingdom continued to drift away from God prior to the Assyrian exile in 720 BCE. Matthew’s Gospel, written for Jewish Christians, underlines the mission of the Apostles to the Jewish people. Friar Jude reminds us that even in Matthew’s Gospel, Gentiles sometimes show more faith and openness of heart than Jews.
Cynthia Bourgeault, CAC faculty member, addresses a fear that motivates all of us on some level—the fear of death. It is a matter of true wisdom to know how to face death wisely and courageously, which is why every religion and culture since the beginning of time has tried to “make sense” of it in some way.
The values that are called the fruits of the Spirit by St. Paul—gentleness and peace and forbearance, compassion, love, joy—these are alchemical products that grow on the other side of the human being not afraid to die. We can find and collectively draw on those wonderful gifts. But it requires the personal willingness (as the old monks in the desert said), to “sit in your cell and ponder the hour of your death” until you’ve really worked through your system what this promise means: “Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” [Romans 14:8]. . . . With that, having moved from something nice you recite on Sundays to something you know in the marrow of your bones, then you walk into the planet as a vessel of love and nothing can touch you.7
As we seek God, we bring our fears to Him, and find consolation in His Love.
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