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Readings: Hosea 2:16-22, Matthew 9:18-26

In today’s first reading from the Book of Hosea, God uses one of his favorite images: Himself as the spouse of his people.

Thus says the LORD:
I will allure her; 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.
On that day, says the LORD, she shall call me “My husband…”

God takes Israel back into the desert so that she will remember the first love they shared.

If we are going to live in the desert, we must have water to survive. Prayer is our water in the desert of this life. When you go to pray, you may feel as if you need to dig a new well every time, but the truth is that you can return to previous wells for water. As long as these provide, why busy yourself with digging? Simply rest beside them. When the Lord wants you to move along to another mode of prayer, he will let these wells dry up for a while.

How do you think the healed hemorrhaging woman or the resurrected little girl felt when they would remember their encounters with Jesus? These memories were refreshing wells for them, strengthening their faith and consoling their hearts. Likewise, by praying with our memories of when the Lord has manifested his closeness and power to us, we can nurture our intimacy with Jesus.

This entry was posted on July 7, 2014 at 10:21 am and is filed under Homily, Prayer, Weekday Homilies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.