Thursday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

 

Darmstadt Altarpiece: 
“The Throne of Grace” 
by an Unknown German Master, 
1440s

 Readings for Thursday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]

 

Readings from the Jerusalem Bible

 

Commentary:

 

Reading 1: Hosea 11:1-4, 8e-9

 

Commentary on Hos 11:1-4, 8e-9

 

The Prophet Hosea, speaking with God’s voice, uses the metaphor of a parent’s love for a child to express God’s love for the people of Israel and Ephraim. With love, says the prophet, God sees  the people as a child who turns away from their parent, turning their backs upon the Lord and sacrificing to other gods. In spite of this faithless behavior, Hosea’s oracle promises not to destroy them (again) by flames. (Note: in part d of v. 8, not included in the passage we read today, the prophet makes reference to Admah and Zeboiim: cities destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah (Deuteronomy 29:22)).

 

CCC: Hos 11 219; Hos 11:1-4 370; Hos 11:1 219, 441, 530; Hos 11:9 208

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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 80:2ac and 3b, 15-16

 

R. (4b) Let us see your face, Lord, and we shall be saved.

 

Commentary on Ps 80:2ac and 3b, 15-16

 

Psalm 80 is a communal lament.  Here the community exalts the king who shepherds Israel with fidelity, and calls upon God to continue to protect his special creation, the people he has called.

 

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Gospel: Matthew 10:7-15

 

Commentary on Mt 10:7-15

 

The instructions to the Apostles, as Jesus sends them on their mission to proclaim the Kingdom of God, are given. They are to go into the world without any provisions, and will depend upon the generosity of others. The Lord gives them authority over all manner of diseases and afflictions, but reminds them that they are not to request payment for these gifts of healing.

 

The Lord's instructions end with a warning to those who reject the proclamation of the Kingdom of God.  Jesus tells the Apostles that those who reject the peace they offer will suffer, as those cut off from God's grace by the judgment laid upon the ones who perished in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (see Genesis 19:1-26).

 

CCC: Mt 10:5-7 543; Mt 10:8 1509, 2121, 2443; Mt 10:10 2122

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Homily:

 

Yet, though I stooped to feed my child,

they did not know that I was their healer.

(Hosea 11:4c)

 

While the Prophet Hosea, speaking with the voice of God, was prophesying about Israel’s fall from grace and the knowledge of the Father, his analogy of feeding his children is apt.  We come to this place to be fed, to be healed, because we understand that the spiritual gifts that flow from this altar in the form of bread and wine are the healing presence of the One Lord.

 

How many of our brothers and sisters have been so drained of God’s grace that they cannot see that gift?  How many do not understand, even when the Savior stoops to feed them, that they can be healed?  This is the Good News of the Kingdom of God!  This is the message our Lord asks us to bring to the world.  This is what he sends us to do, just as he once sent his Apostles.

 

It is only through God’s grace that the healing hand of the Savior can be revealed.  It is almost a Catch 22. One cannot feel the Son’s presence without the grace that comes from the Son’s presence.  But we can provide that conduit.  We can show those we meet the path to their own peace through our peace, which, in the name of Jesus, we can impart to them.

 

Today, as we go about our lives in the world, let us go with the message our Lord gave to his Apostles, and give his peace to those we meet.  In this way, we announce that the Kingdom of God is at hand.

 

Pax

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[1] S.S. Commemoratio

[2] The picture is from the Darmstadt Altarpiece: “The Throne of Grace” by an Unknown German Master, 1440s