Trust in the Lord

Homily for Friday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time

We reach the last of the passages from Hosea today and listen as he, like the prophet Amos whom we were reading last week, speaks of the restoration of Israel. Like Amos, Hosea will not see the restoration. However, just as he has been forceful in denouncing the children of Israel for their idolatry, he waxes poetic in describing the restoration of Israel.

The thoughts of the Gospel for this morning are rather more dark than the words of Hosea. Jesus warns the Twelve that they will fall into the hands of people who will want to scourge them and accuse them of being false prophets. Like the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures, they will all eventually be called upon to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the Gospel they have been asked to preach.

Once again, Jesus asks the Twelve to trust him. They need not worry about their own defense. The Holy Spirit will put words of defense into their hearts and upon their lips. Once again, we are reminded that this business of preaching the Gospel is not about us. It is all about God working in our world through us. Trying to prepare our own defense is a little like getting in the way of our lawyer when we are brought before a judge. Just as we need to get out of the lawyer’s way, we need to get out of God’s way and let God work through us. We must allow the Spirit of God to come forth from our mouths.

“O Lord, open my lips,” the psalmist cries out today, “and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.” Every day, the Church begins the Liturgy of the Word with this verse and response. With this prayer, the Lord has already made good on his promise of giving us what we need.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator