Cheddar Roman Catholic Church Sunday 3 A

10th Sunday A, 2008

In the Bible we have the prophesies of 4 major prophets,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel
and 12 minor prophets, one of whom is Hosea whose prophesy we heard in the first reading.
He lived at a time when Israel was watching the victorious advance of conquering Assyria.
There was upheaval and unrest in the Kingdom, rebellions and assassinations, religious and moral corruption.
God told Hosea to marry a harlot to symbolise the relationship between the Lord and his people,
for God often likened the Chosen People to an unfaithful wife.
Through Hosea God called again for faithful love and a religion of the heart.
“What I want is LOVE not sacrifice, a KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, not holocaust”
People were mixing their religion, worshiping idols and offering the prescribed sacrifices to the Lord God as well.

We can ask: does this sort of thing happen today among Roman Catholics?
What would constitute worshipping idols today?
Do we do anything that would compare with a loveless sacrifice in the Temple?

700 years later Jesus repeated the lamentation of God in Hosea when he said that he wants MERCY not sacrifice.
He said this because the Pharisees told him that he should not be speaking and eating with people who were excluded from good religious society.
Again we can ask: HOW would this work today?
Who belongs to good religious society today, and who is excluded?
Jesus gave himself to his mission so he was not worried about his reputation; he mixed with the undesirables because his very presence meant healing for many of them as in the case of the tax collector.

When we give ourselves wholeheartedly to something, we feel called to do or want to do - parenthood, a job, making a home,
holding some office in the church or a society,
anything that harms no one but rather benefits others,
we can identify with Jesus and enjoy our closeness to him.

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