Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s first reading from the prophet Hosea, the Lord speaks to Israel as to his beloved bride, remembering with tenderness the time that Israel spent in the desert: "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." Here, Israel’s sojourn in the desert figures not as a time of punishment but as a time of espousals, as a period of intimacy between God and his people. Throughout the history of Israel, God continually calls his people back to this spousal love, and through their triumphs and tragedies he calls them to deepen their love and faithfulness, so that it can better mirror his own loving-kindness.
This invitation the Lord extends to Israel, to enter more deeply into a relationship of love and fidelity with him, is also an invitation God extends to us in Christ. The Lord Jesus desires this intimate communion with each one of us and with all of humanity. And this intimate communion is what the Church, the Body and the Bride of Christ, is to signify in the world, especially when we come together to celebrate the Eucharist.
Today, let us ponder the Lord’s eager desire to enter into communion with humanity, with each one of us and with all of us as his people. And let us ask the Lord for the grace to enter more deeply into this union which he so earnestly desires.