From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   July 4th - Osee (Hosea), Prophet (RM)   
      
   8th century BC. Hosea lived in a period when, as is usual in the history of   
   the world, things were going badly. He seems to have been a contemporary of   
   Isaiah, but his prophecies were directed at his compatriots of Samaria, the   
   destruction of whose kingdom he foretold. The Hebrews who had settled in   
   Judea had reached a high point during the reigns of David and Solomon, but   
   since then they had separated into two kingdoms: the kingdom of the north,   
   Israel, and the southern kingdom of Judah.   
   The kings of Israel were a poor lot and there was anarchy   
   everywhere-military, political, and religious anarchy. For a country to be   
   defeated in a war is a far smaller tragedy than for a country to lose its   
   sense of vocation, and Hosea lamented this falling-off not only with his   
   preaching but also with his life.   
      
   The prophets of the Old Testament were very fond of striking people's   
   imaginations by what we would today call publicity stunts, such as walking   
   half naked through a town with a shaven head and carrying the yoke of an ox.   
   Hosea drew attention to himself by getting married, which may not sound very   
   original in itself but was what God wanted him to do, and God never   
   hesitates to outflank our limited intelligences.   
      
   Moreover He ordered Hosea to marry a prostitute-and please don't be   
   scandalized, because you will soon see that this story comes closer to home   
   than you might think. "Go, take a harlot wife," said God (Hosea 1:2), and   
   Hosea obeyed. He married a woman called Gomer, by whom he had a son called   
   Jezreel, and soon after that Gomer returned to her former trade.   
      
   Hosea wasn't surprised, but he had known Gomer long enough to come to love   
   her, and to love her with all his heart. She had two more children: a   
   daughter, Lo-ruhamah, which means "not loved," and a son, Lo-ammi, which   
   means "not of my people."   
      
   Hosea continued to love Gomer and when God ordered him to take her back he   
   obeyed, buying her for 15 pieces of silver and a barrel and a half of   
   barley. And that is all that we know about him, because that is all that God   
   wanted us to know, just the story of this marriage and of Hosea's great love   
   for a sad, even wretched, despised person. For the story of Hosea's tender   
   love is the story of God's tender love, and in the story of God's love the   
   prostitute is us.   
      
   For what is the story of Hosea if not the story of God who loves His people,   
   who is betrayed by His people-even by those who are the most faithful-but   
   Whose love is yet stronger than their betrayal? To make us understand His   
   love God begins by telling us about a marriage and ends by sending His Son   
   to live the Crucifixion. His love was in the beginning and will endure for   
   ever, for God has never brought Himself to hate man completely. Sometimes He   
   leaves man to himself, and that is His greatest punishment (5:15).   
      
   Hosea's whole life as well as his book bear witness to this great love of   
   God. Through his mouth we hear God weeping in rage and frustrated love over   
   the sins of mankind: "I will have no pity on her children, for they are the   
   children of harlotry. Yes, their mother has played the harlot; she that   
   conceived them has acted shamefully. . . . " (2:7).   
      
   But soon his anger abates and he takes new hope: "Then she shall say, 'I   
   will go back to my first husband; for it was better with me then than now"   
   (2:9). Surely we have here an echo, a herald of that other story, the story   
   of the Prodigal Son, and of his words: "I will arise and go to my father. .   
   . ." (Luke 15:18).   
      
   Hosea continues: "So, I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and   
   speak to her heart. From there I will give her the vineyard she had, and the   
   valley of Achor as a door of hope. She shall respond there as in the days of   
   her youth (Hosea 2:16-17). . . . I will espouse you to me forever. I will   
   espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy (2:21). . . . And   
   I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to   
   them which were not my people, you are my people; and they shall say, You   
   are my God."   
      
   This crisis in God's love for His people and for mankind is the theme of the   
   book of Hosea. Neither Hosea nor God would admit defeat; they threatened   
   terrible calamities, they wept over betrayals and desertions, but all the   
   time they were waiting for the great reconciliation. Neither had any   
   illusions about vice and sin; they met it head on, face to face.   
      
   They blamed the priests: "My people perish for want of knowledge! Because   
   you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from my priesthood, since you   
   have ignored the law of your God, I will also ignore your sons (4:6). . . ."   
   After the priests they blamed the folly of the people: "My people ask   
   counsel at their stocks, and their staff declares to them." They blamed the   
   iniquity of the rulers: "The princes of Judah have become like those that   
   move a boundary line (5:10). . . . For I am like a lion to Ephraim, like a   
   young lion to the house of Judah" (5:14)   
      
   Nor were Hosea or God deceived by superficial repentance. In one of the   
   finest passages in the Old Testament, Hosea says: "For it is love that I   
   desire, not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings"   
   (6:6).   
      
   "Ephraim," says God, "is a hearth cake not turned (7:8). . . . a silly dove   
   without heart" (7:11). And yet: "How could I give you up, O Ephraim? . . . .   
   My heart is overwhelmed, my pity is stirred. I will not give vent to my   
   blazing anger, I will not destroy Ephraim again; for I am God and not man"   
   (11:8-9).   
      
   And so the book of the prophet Hosea ends with the victory of love; and as   
   long as it is read, despair shall never triumph:   
      
   "I will heal their defection, I will love them freely, for my wrath is   
   turned away from them. I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall blossom   
   like the lily, he shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar, and put forth   
   his shoots. His splendor shall be like the olive tree (14:5-7). . . .   
   Straight are the paths of the Lord, in them the just walk, but sinners   
   stumble in them (14:10) (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Beware of trying to accomplish anything by force, for God has given every   
   single person free will and desires to constrain none; he merely shows them   
   the way, invites them and counsels them.   
   -Saint Angela Merici   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.  (Matthew   
   24:35)   
      
      
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   Indulgenced Prayers   
      
   We adore Thee, O Most Holy Lord Jesus Christ, here and in   
   all Thy churches that are in the whole world, and we bless   
   Thee; for by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)