St. Benedict’s time, between 480 and 550 A.D., was one of crisis, much like ours, with the whole world of his era changing in ways that would have been unimaginable. The Roman Empire was crumbling in the West, and whole peoples were migrating across continents. Spiritual confusion was even greater. To the order of monks […]
Year II. The closing chapter of Hosea is an emotional call for conversion, for a loyal return to the Lord. He alone can save, he alone is the master of history, and he alone can provide the happiness which people seek so frantically. Gospel. What Jesus says of his apostles-missionaries applies also to all who
Year II. In poignant terms, Hosea describes how much God loves his child Israel. Even when he has to reprimand his people, God will be merciful, for he still loves his people, however wayward. He is God, not a mere human being. Gospel. Jesus sends his twelve apostles to announce the kingdom of heaven. They
Year II. In the name of God, the prophet Hosea scolds the people of Israel, who have let prosperity lead them into a hypocritical religion. He calls them to conversion. Gospel. Jesus sends out his apostles as healers of people’s ills so that the new era of the kingdom of God can begin. They, and
Year II. The people of God in the OT deserted God for idols – false gods, sham gods of their own making. They tried to fashion a god in their own image and likeness. Are we Christians free from idolatry? We make our own idols and bend our knees to them – some in the crude way:
Year II. The prophet Hosea is the prophet of the tender, gratuitous love of God, who continues to love his people even when they are unfaithful, because he is God, not like people (Hos 11, 9). Hosea can describe this love well, for he had experienced it in his own life when his wife deserted
Greeting (See the Gospel) It is Our Lord Jesus who invites: “Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened And I will give you rest. Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart.” May this gentle Lord always stay with you. R/ And also with you. Introduction by the Celebrant
Year II. We hear in the first reading an appendix to Amos, probably written at a later date but in Amos’s style and perspective; it promises a new future to those who are faithful. Gospel. Can we be people of compromise? To settle disagreements and make peace, to solve disputed matters and to become at
The gospel has some beautiful texts about St. Thomas. Not only the “My Lord and my God” after his doubt and hesitation to believe, but also “Let us too go and die with him,” and the question “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How could we know the way?” And the Lord’s, “Happy
Year II. The priest Amaziah, in the name of the lord king, judges as inopportune the word of God through the prophet Amos. It is not politically relevant. Gospel. It was, humanly speaking, a meagre consolation for the cripple to hear that his sins were forgiven. But to the believer, sin is the root of
