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Year A: 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time First Reading: Hosea 6: 3-6 The First Reading takes us back to the writing of Hosea - a prophet who reflected on Israel’s unfaithfulness to the covenant she had with God. His own marriage to a woman who proved to be unfaithful - and his own enduring love - provided him with a valuable image of what such unfaithfulness meant. His response told him much about the enduring love of God - but also the frustration of loving someone who did not return or understand one’s love - “What am I to do?!” The Reading offers contrasts of imagery - of showers and spring rains - and of being torn to pieces and of slaughter. God is a God of tenderness - or renewal and refreshment - but God is also a God of justice - who challenges His people in their unfaithfulness. God does not ask His people to offer sacrifice - but, in a way to become a sacrifice...the slaughter He speaks of is that of the holy offerings - the tearing apart remembrance of the covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15). No longer is the sacrifice of animals to substitute for the love of God’s people. No longer are holocausts to be offered instead of seeking knowledge of God. It was to be many years before people began fully to understand what this was to mean. It would take the coming of Jesus - His witness to love and to mercy - His willingness to offer Himself as a perfect sacrifice of love - to teach people what God actually meant. What does it mean for me?
Text © 2007 Wellspring | Gospel | First Reading | Second Reading | | Weekly Wellsprings | |
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