SPEAKER_00: There's a line in the first reading today that's so beautiful.
SPEAKER_00: It almost surprises us that we find it in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: God says, I taught Ephraim to walk.
SPEAKER_00: I took them in my arms.
SPEAKER_00: I drew them with human cords, with bands of love.
SPEAKER_00: It's an extraordinary image.
SPEAKER_00: We often picture God as the all powerful, all knowing, the creator of heaven and earth, and all of that is true.
SPEAKER_00: But today the prophet Hosea gives us another image.
SPEAKER_00: He pictures God like a father, teaching his little child to walk.
SPEAKER_00: Every parent knows that moment.
SPEAKER_00: The child takes one uncertain step, then another.
SPEAKER_00: They wobble, they fall.
SPEAKER_00: The parent doesn't scold them.
SPEAKER_00: The parent reaches down, picks them up, smiles, and say, That's a good job, let's try again.
SPEAKER_00: That's how God describes himself.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we imagine that God is waiting for us to fail.
SPEAKER_00: The scriptures tell us a very different story.
SPEAKER_00: God is the one who bends down to lift us up, the one who feeds us, the one who patiently teaches us to walk, the one who never tires of helping his children begin again.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, notice the tragedy of today's reading.
SPEAKER_00: God says The more I called them, the further they went away from me.
SPEAKER_00: That sentence explains almost every sin.
SPEAKER_00: God calls, we drift, not because God moves, but because we move.
SPEAKER_00: And usually we don't drift all at once.
SPEAKER_00: I've said this before, nobody wakes up one morning and decides, oh, okay, today I decide to abandon God.
SPEAKER_00: No, it happens gradually.
SPEAKER_00: Prayer becomes less frequent, Sunday Mass becomes optional, confession gets postponed, the spiritual life slowly cools.
SPEAKER_00: Like a boat untied from the dock, it doesn't have to work to drift, simply stops holding on.
SPEAKER_00: The Christian life is different.
SPEAKER_00: Remaining close to Christ is always intentional.
SPEAKER_00: Then comes perhaps my favorite line.
SPEAKER_00: God says, They did not know that I was their healer.
SPEAKER_00: How often do we search elsewhere for healing?
SPEAKER_00: We think if I only had more money, if I find the right relationship then, or if I change jobs, or if I bought a bigger house or this or that, then I would finally have peace in my life.
SPEAKER_00: But I don't have that right now.
SPEAKER_00: But beneath almost every human wound is a spiritual hunger that only God can satisfy.
SPEAKER_00: He's not simply the judge, he is the healer.
SPEAKER_00: And every time we come to him, especially in the sacraments, he quietly restoring something sin has damaged.
SPEAKER_00: Then if we turn to the gospel, Jesus tells his apostles, without cost you have received, without cost you are to give.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe one of the best definitions of Christian life.
SPEAKER_00: Everything that matters most has been given to us.
SPEAKER_00: Did you earn your life?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: Did you earn God's mercy?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: Did you earn your salvation?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: Grace is always a gift because before it ever becomes a task.
SPEAKER_00: And because we've received so freely, we're now called to give freely.
SPEAKER_00: Mercy received becomes mercy offered.
SPEAKER_00: Forgiveness received becomes forgiveness extended.
SPEAKER_00: Love received becomes love shared.
SPEAKER_00: Notice also what Jesus tells them not to bring.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Don't bring gold, no silver, no extra tunic.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Well, because he's teaching them a lesson every disciple must learn.
SPEAKER_00: Your security cannot rest in what you carry and what you can obtain.
SPEAKER_00: It must rest in the one who sends you.
SPEAKER_00: The greatest missionaries in history of the church were never those who possessed the most.
SPEAKER_00: They were those who trusted the most.
SPEAKER_00: The saints changed the world because they believed that Christ was enough.
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps that's the invitation for us today.
SPEAKER_00: Are we living as though God is truly our Father?
SPEAKER_00: Do we really believe in the core of our being that He is our healer?
SPEAKER_00: Do we trust Him enough to loosen our grip on things, things that make us feel secure?
SPEAKER_00: Because the God who taught Israel to walk is still teaching his children to walk today.
SPEAKER_00: He still reaches down when we fall.
SPEAKER_00: He still lifts us up.
SPEAKER_00: He still draws us.
SPEAKER_00: Not with chains of fear, but with bands of love.
SPEAKER_00: The question we have today is whether we will allow ourselves to be led by Him who loves us.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.