Today’s 1st reading is taken from Hosea chapter 2
which according to Fr. Tony from our bible study is the key to the whole book. Hosea
married Gomer a prostitute whom he loves but was unfaithful and deserted him.
His painful relationship with his wife symbolizes the covenant relationship of
God's love and relationship to man. Hosea can be described as a book of
relationship and fidelity, God's faithfulness despite our unfaithfulness.
Chapters 1-3 is about the life of Hosea focusing on his failed and broken
marriage, chapters 4-13 about his preaching, oracles against infidelity and
adultery in relation to worship to "Baal", chapter 14 is about the
return to hope after judgment. God's fidelity to his people is described in
terms of marriage, a divine love, fiery and affectionate for Israel as the "bride of
God." From the time of Creation when God created man who fell into sin and
became unfaithful, God continuously calls us back to Him in order to show us
who He really is throughout the length of time most especially the special love
He has for us. Fr. Tony compared God's demonstration of His love to a strip
teaser who one by one strips herself of clothing before she comes out totally
naked. He said that God throughout time has sent emissaries, patriarchs,
prophets and kings to declare His great love for us and in the fullness of time
has ultimately revealed His naked love in its entirety by sending His only
begotten Son Jesus who was not spared to suffer and die on the cross just to
show His great love for us. God never ceases to love us every single turn in our
life since His love is beyond comprehension. God continues to strip tease
constantly, consistently and continuously just to lure us back to His loving
embrace. His love knows no boundaries, it gets more intense, longer, higher and
deeper as the days go by. Amen. Hallelujah!
Hosea 2:16, 17c-18, 21-22
16 Thus says the LORD: I will allure her; I will lead her
into the desert and speak to her heart. 17 She shall respond there as in the
days of her youth, when she came up from the land of Egypt
If we are to analyze the outline of the salvation history or
covenant history which goes back to the time of Adam & Eve and Noah and
dates way back to 1800 BC during the time of Abraham, Moses (1200), David
(means the favored one,1000), Exodus (600) to the birth of our Lord Jesus then
we can shout out loud at the top of our lungs today’s psalm. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalm 145:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
R: The Lord is gracious and merciful.
2 Every day will I bless you, and I will praise your name
forever and ever...slow to anger and of great kindness. 9 The LORD is good to
all and compassionate toward all his works.
Today’s gospel tells us that fear is useless, what we need
is trust. Jesus throughout the gospels have been telling us, “Where is our
faith?”, “Men of little faith”, “If you
have the faith the size of a mustard seed you can move a mountain.” A lot of
people were touching Jesus but this one woman in the gospel who touched His
tassel was healed and it’s because of her faith. Just as the scene is ending
with the healing of this woman they had a confrontation when Jesus was met by
this scene when the little girl was pronounced dead. What is very interesting
here is that, Jesus tells them, “Go away! The girl is not dead but sleeping.”
In our faith we should realize that fear is useless. Many of us are dominated by
fear as we go through life. It dominates our spiritual life. As we know from
the rest of the New Testament, when fear goes down and we are following what we
are supposed to be doing then our level of love is going to increase. Many
times, they are inversely proportional. These are very important principles for
us to know. Jesus, when we approach Him and deal with Him, He wants us to have
courage and not to fear because He wants to heal and cure us. If we apply this
to our spiritual life everyday especially those who attend daily mass, we must
realize that this woman just touched the tassel of His garment and did not even
touch a part of Jesus’ body. What about us? We actually receive, the Body,
Blood, Soul & Divinity in Holy Communion. If we have faith we can be
healed. As we grow in our spiritual life which happens and may not realize it,
we can be fearful of what Jesus demands of us if He heals us. We should not be
afraid and have courage in the spiritual life. Courage is the virtue of bravery
in facing difficulty especially in overcoming the fear of consequences. In this
case this woman is afraid of the consequences of what was going to happen to
her. In general, as we continue on with our spiritual life which is a battle,
we all need and should have courage to overcome fear which dominates our life,
especially our spiritual life. More courage will enable us to pursue which is
deemed to be right whenever a person may incur disapproval from other people.
Physical courage is a bodily and emotional strength to withstand opposition. We
often speak of soldiers and it’s in the battle field when we see if they are
brave or not. Bravery is a virtue in facing difficulties and it differs from
fortitude because it is patience to withstand difficulties. We often think of a
soldier who goes out in battle to show that he is brave. The lessons we learn
today are, fear is useless and we must cultivate the virtue of bravery and
courage especially in our spiritual life regardless of how people are going to
treat us whether with contempt, disapproval or with great opposition against
us. Amen. Hallelujah!
Matthew 9:18-26
...“My daughter has just died. But come, lay your hand on
her, and she will live.” 19 Jesus rose and followed him, and so did his
disciples. 20 A woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him
and touched the tassel on his cloak. 21 She said to herself, “If only I can
touch his cloak, I shall be cured.” 22 Jesus turned around and saw her, and
said, “Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.” And from that hour the
woman was cured. 23 When Jesus arrived at the official’s house and saw the
flute players and the crowd who were making a commotion, 24 he said, “Go away!
The girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they ridiculed him. 25 When the crowd was put out, he came and took her
by the hand, and the little girl arose. 26 And news of this spread throughout
all that land.
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