In today's first reading, Hosea 2: 6, 17b-18, 21-22, the Lord says to us: "I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart. She shall respond there as in the days of her youth, when she came up from the land of Egypt....I will espouse you to me forever: I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy; I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know the Lord."
Recall your excitement when your bridegroom got down on one knee and, looking up to you with a diamond ring in his hand, asked you: "Will you marry me?" and you said "Yes!" You were in seventh heaven, so to speak! Or, if that has not been your experience as of now, imagine a future bridegroom here on this earth, proposing to you. Your heart will leap in joy, I believe!
In this Scripture passage from the prophet Hosea, it is God, the Almighty, the King of the Universe, the Holy One, saying to you, and to me: "I will lead [you] into the desert and speak to [your] heart....I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy; I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know [Me,] the Lord," your God! Wow! God wants you, wants me, has chosen you, has chosen me, as His spouse forever, as His Bride, as His beloved! It is not a perishable diamond ring that God put on your finger or my finger but He clothes you and me with a robe of justice, of righteousness, of love and of mercy, of fidelity and promises that we will shall know Him, the God of all Being, our Creator, Redeemer and Lover!
What an awesome God! And what a commitment on God's part! What love! What mercy!
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