In today’s first reading, Hosea 14: 2-10, the people come to
the realization that “Assyria will not save us, nor shall we have horses to mount. We shall say no more, ‘Our god,’ to the work
of our hands….” In Psalm 33: 16-17, the
psalmist echoes these same thoughts: “A
large army [like the Assyrians] will not keep a king safe, nor does the hero
escape by his great strength; it is delusion to rely on the horse for safety,
for all its power, it cannot save.” Our
strength, our salvation, is the Lord, our God.
God, Hosea states, “will heal…[our]
defection,…will love…[us] freely.”
Horses and armies and the work of our hands cannot save us
or give us the strength we need to be faithful followers of the Lord our God.
The Israelis tried that and repeatedly followed false gods. We will find enduring strength only by
reaching out to those in need, loving the needy as we love ourselves and in loving the Lord our God with our whole
heart, our whole soul, our whole mind, and all of our strength. When we do these things—love God and love our
neighbor as we love ourselves-- Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel, we “are not
far from the Kingdom of God”(Mark 12: 28-34).
To which kingdom are you close and to which do you cling for
safety and strength? God’s or that of
the world’s?
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