Friday of the Third Week in Lent
(Hosea 14:2-10; Mark 12:28-34)
Hosea is considered a “minor prophet” because his
writings are not as extensive as Isaiah’s, Jeremiah’s, or Ezekiel’s. Yet he writes with extraordinary simplicity
and beauty. His audience is the northern
kingdom of Israel, sometimes called Ephraim or Samaria. Blessed with abundance, Israel dabbles in
idolatry which Hosea symbolizes by taking a harlot for a wife.
In today’s passage Hosea pleads with Israel to repent. The nation is not to trust any more in foreign
alliances, much less in golden idols.
Rather it should walk the path of God’s righteousness and count on Him. Jesus gives a parallel formulation for arriving
in the kingdom of God in today’s gospel.
We may practice similar infidelity. If we idolize actors or athletes, giving them
our attention and not the word of God, Hosea’s warnings are for us. Similarly, if we confide in gossipers or
slanders, we are guilty of untoward alliances which call for repentance.
