Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 384

When Ephraim made many altars to expiate sin, his altars became occasions of sin.
Though I write for him my many ordinances,
they are considered as a stranger’s.
Though they offer sacrifice, immolate flesh and eat it, the LORD is not pleased with them.
He shall still remember their guilt and punish their sins; they shall return to Egypt.

Amos and Hosea are the oldest of the writing, Hebrew prophets; both lived in the northern kingdom of Israel, which had split from Judah and its king in Jerusalem. Israelite kings erected altars and shrines to discourage people from travelling to Jerusalem, despite the prophets' objections. They claimed to worship the same God, but in a different manner. 

Hosea saw a nation both separated from its source in the Holy City and wandering away from the covenant with God. Their "altars became occasions of sin" as the people worshiped according to their own fancies, rather than following the rites and customs of Jerusalem. They went so far as to use gold statues of cows to represent the Lord who had delivered them from Egypt. These images were an abomination to iconoclastic Jews; they remembered the commandment, "You shall have no strange god before me." 

Consequently, the Lord "shall still remember their guilt and punish their sins." Further, "they shall return to Egypt;" that is, to enslavement to foreign nations. Although Israel survived several hundred years it was finally destroyed by neighboring Assyria. Unfortunately, Jerusalem also collapsed before the Babylonian army.  

Our relationship with God begins in obedience and follows with penance. We hear the Lord's invitation to come follow me, and we turn away from sin. If choosing to follow the Lord seems a quick and relatively simple decision, one which was effected on a single memorable occasion, turning away from sin can take a lifetime. 

Most of us remember the day when we realized my way isn't working, and decided to listen to the Lord. But, if it's true that we learned everything we needed to know before kindergarten, there is a lot of deep learning we have to forget. Many attitudes, habits, and expectations that made sense under the old dispensation do not belong in God's world. 

The willingness to adapt may come easily at first. A young married couple might learn to pay attention and notice their differences early in their marriage, and readily change. It gets more complicated, however, as their love and trust grows; each drops the unconscious pretenses that charmed the other, and reverts to their usual manners, attitudes and habits. Biological sounds are not muffled anymore, and unpleasant smells might not be countered by immediate adjustments to the air circulation. Living together often requires unexpected, sacrificial adjustments. They're not even remarked upon until an argument breaks out.  

Likewise, as we come to the Lord in the Church, we again discover some manners, attitudes, and habits that just don't belong. There are conservatives and liberals in this group, as well as migrants from other nations. The group's decisions might not feel right; their inspiration doesn't seem to lead the right direction. 

Many at that point decide they can love the Lord without belonging to God's people. But that's like looking at a picture of someone and thinking you know them. It may be reassuring and comfortable but there is neither challenge nor sacrifice. Real people and our real God always demand sacrifice. That's the cost of being with them. 

And if I don't seem to be making a sacrifice, I can be sure they're making one for me. I am simply too obtuse to notice. 

Consumers -- that is, those with the money -- are continually reassured that they need make no sacrifice. They follow wicked shepherds and prefer the wide path of perdition. We do penance and atone for our sins, and we thank the prophetic spirit of Amos and Hosea who points out our sins to us and remains always to challenge us.