Hosea 10:1-3, 7-8, 12, Psalm 105:2-7, Matthew 10:1-7
Hosea 10:1-3, 7-8, 12
My Beloved why is human nature the way it is? When there is peace, prosperity and plenty, why is there a tendency to get complacent and lazy and attribute all the good things that happen to us as a the results of our own merits instead of knowing that it is God's benevolence that has smiled on us? It is in the time of trouble and calamity, when no help seems at hand and we are alone that we remember You. What are we too think headed to realize that every good and perfect gift come from You and so give You the honor and glory for all the blessing that You have poured on us? No wonder the saints would rather embrace poverty and want and cling to You in trust and expectant faith rather than face the temptation of putting their trust in possessions.
Satan's ace is to divide and rule. A divided heart is doomed to fall prey to every kind of sin. you are a jealous God only because You know that if we did not give You the love due to You we would be in danger of giving our love to worthless things that would probably destroy us.
When we are fat and sleek on prosperity, our senses are sated and we are unable to desire You and long for You with an all consuming passion. When sin comes home to roost we become fodder fit only to be thrown into the everlasting flames - it is then that we realize our guilt and shame and we desire to hide from Your sight like Adam and Eve.
12 Plow new ground, sow for yourselves justice and reap
the harvest of kindness. It is the time to go seeking Yahweh until he comes to
rain salvation on you.
Verse 12 above tells us to begin anew, to rid ourselves of all that is sinful and to prepare our hearts to yield a harvest of good fruit by sowing the seeds of justice and kindness. When we seek God with all the fervor of our hearts, God who loves us will come to us and bless us abundantly.
Verse 4 reminds us to 4 Look to the Lord and be strong;
seek his face always.
This has been and is my daily experience Beloved. I seek Your face every morning as we spend time together. I am privileged to come to look upon Your Face in the Adoration Chapel and then my Beloved comes the highlight of my entire day, I get to receive You in the Eucharist and I am strong in Your strength and ready to face any challenges that the day may bring. Thank You Lord.
My Beloved, You chose the most unlikely bunch of men to mission. They were last people people that the world would have chosen for such an important task. The world and God look at things from totally opposite angles. In God there is always contradiction. St. Paul says, "When I am weak then I am strong." The Beatitudes that You preached on the Sermon on the Mount are also full of contradictions when compared with the world view. The little ones will be made great, the humble shall be exalted. I must lose my life in order to gain it. I the eyes of the world, and before Pentecost, it would seem that You made a grave error in judgement, for every one of the 12 failed You in the most crucial hours of Your life when in Your humanity, You needed their consolation the most. They failed You horribly. One betrayed You, Poor Peter denied You not once but thrice exactly as You predicted he would and each one of them ran away and hid in fear.
What a transformation came over them after Your Resurrection, Your Ascension and Pentecost and look at Your Church today. Your Gospel has reached the ends of the earth because of the 12 that You chose, and You formed and You empowered with Your Own Holy Spirit. Truly the ways of God are quite different from the ways of men!
Verses 7 - 10
7 Go and proclaim this message: The kingdom of heaven is
near. 8 Heal the
sick, bring the dead back to life, cleanse the lepers, and drive out demons.
You received this as a gift, so give it as a gift. 9 Do not carry any gold, silver or copper in your
purses. 10 Do not
carry a traveler’s bag, or an extra shirt, or sandals, or walking-stick:
workers deserve their living.
These verses teach me to trust wholly in Your providence. I am still taking baby steps, continue to teach me my Lord.
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