THE HOLY SPIRIT SPEAKS THROUGH THE SHEEP


FRIDAY, FOURTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP 

Hos 14:2-10; Ps 51:3-4,8-9,12-14,17; Mt 10:16-23

The Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you

We are called to share in the role of Jesus Christ as a prophet. The vocation of a prophet is a life-long vocation, which is an occupation. As we have stated, the prophet is not just a channel of the word of God; he is also to be the word of God. For God trains him to be an embodiment of his will. We see this in the case of Hosea, whose life was a continuous proclamation to Israel of Yahweh’s steadfast love and compassion. His marriage, the birth of his three children, and even his wife’s unfaithfulness were proclamations of the will of God to Israel. The first reading expresses Yahweh’s eagerness to forgive Israel’s sins and heal his people’s sinfulness, symbolically represented in Hosea’s forgiveness and acceptance of his unfaithful wife. “Israel, come back to the Lord your God; your iniquity was the cause of your downfall. Provide yourself with words and come back to the Lord. Say to him, ‘Take all iniquity away so that we may have happiness again and offer you our words of praise.’” Yahweh offers the people the words to implore for his mercy and forgiveness. This shows Yahweh's desire for his people's return to his covenant communion. This overwhelming desire on the side of God to bring back his erring people causes him to take over the life of the prophet who serves as his middleman or emissary.

God has the right to invade the life of the one he called to be a prophet. As the Creator, God has every right to take any life he chooses, for all his creatures obey his will. But God does not force himself on a soul but gently and lovingly calls, trains, and incorporates the soul in his redeeming work. He does the same thing to the people straying from his will; he gently calls and lovingly coerces them to return to his divine will. That is why he made us: to know him, love him, and serve him, to be happy with him forever. His promise to heal and love the repentant sinner follows his teaching Israel how to pray and the words to use in prayer. “I will heal their disloyalty, I will love them with all my heart, for my anger has turned from them. I will fall like dew on Israel. He shall bloom like the lily, and thrust out roots like the popular, his shoots will spread far; he will have the beauty of the olive and the fragrance of Lebanon.” These words express the gradual transformation of both the prophet and the people who receive the word of God positively and build their lives on it. The word of God we receive, keep in our hearts, meditate, contemplate, and effectively utilise in our daily lives transforms us and everything around us. Trials and resistance will be on our path, both from within and without, but the word of God will triumph over them all if we do not remove our will from following God.

The compassion with which Yahweh dealt with Israel in the case of Hosea is not different from Jesus' dealing with his disciples. He called and chose every one of his disciples and each of us. He teaches us how to pray to receive divine forgiveness of our sins; he eagerly forgives the sins of all who express faith in his divinity and heals their sicknesses, casts out evil spirits from all who follow him with faith. He trains us to listen, receive, and obey his word that gives life. He sends them out to proclaim the word of God, just as he sends us out to witness his Gospel message to all around us. “Remember, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be cunning as serpents and yet as harmless as doves.” This statement of our Lord expresses the perfection that we must attain as prophets. Namely, docility to the will of God and obedience to the word we proclaim; we must have our eyes on Jesus Christ, our head, which is the wisdom of serpents. We must bear the same love and goodwill God has for all men and desire their salvation; this gives us the innocence of a dove. Though the people would want to kill us, we are to work and pray for their salvation, which makes our mission to be successful. This love is the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, giving us what we are to say at any moment. We speak many languages when we love, making it possible for everyone to understand our Gospel proclamation.  

Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, the grace to pay attention to your word daily, submit to the training you arrange for us, and learn the lesson of your Beloved Son’s life, death, and resurrection, that we may successfully proclaim the Gospel message of your heavenly kingdom.

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