Come Back to Me

I have started my final year of Biblical School at the University of Dallas. It has been an incredible experience for me; seeing how God speaks to us through scripture and knowing that the words that were written thousands of years ago remain true and they will continue to remain true throughout the ages. I get caught up in my homework just as I get caught up in my daily meditations and sometimes spend hours on them. I am trying to find a balance because I don’t have hours to spend on them each day.

We are studying the prophets and many of the first Readings at Mass recently have been from the prophets as well. A common theme is the Lord calling his people, Israel, back to him. Hosea came to share with the people the astonishing fact of God’s love for man. God is not only the LORD who demands justice; he is also a God who is in love with his people. God is also a jealous God. He wants us to give Him our all but instead we fall into the sins of idolatry, greed, lust, power, pride and so many more. He is calling Israel back to the covenantal relationship they had with him; reminding them how he was with them in the desert. It was a time of intimacy between Yahweh and his new bride, Israel. As he led them through the wilderness, there were no distractions from other gods, and Yahweh alone cared for her.

The desert isn’t a place of desolation where God has abandoned us; it is a place where we are totally dependent on God. God wants to share the same intimacy that he had with Israel, with us as well. God is constantly calling us back to him. Sometimes we are lured away by the things of this world. When things are going well we often forget to give thanks to God or we think that we are receiving them as a gift from God because we were “good”.  When we sin we often turn away in shame instead of running to the One who can heal us. May we constantly seek the Lord, knowing that he is continually calling us to him, because it is only in him that we will find peace and healing.

 “Come, let us return to the LORD, for it is he who has rent, but he will heal us; he has struck us, but he will bind our wounds. He will revive us after two days; on the third day he will raise us up, to live in his presence” (Hosea 6:1-2)