A Father's Love

Homily for Thursday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Hosea gives us one of Scripture’s most moving images of divine love: God teaching Israel to walk, lifting the child to His cheek, bending down to feed him. Even when Israel turns away, the Lord says, “My heart is overwhelmed; my pity is stirred.” God’s holiness is not cold distance but a love that refuses to give up. This is the same divine fidelity we see throughout salvation history and in our own lives whenever the Lord draws us back from our self‑made detours.

Psalm 80 is the prayer of a people who know they have strayed and now beg, “Give us life, and we will call upon your name.” It is the plea of a community that remembers the Lord’s past kindness and longs to be restored. For us, this psalm becomes a daily petition: that God revive what has grown weary, rekindle what has cooled, and strengthen what has faltered.

In the Gospel, Jesus sends His disciples out with almost nothing—no money, no extra tunic, no elaborate plan. Their security is not in provisions but in the One who sends them. They are to offer peace, proclaim the nearness of the Kingdom, and entrust the rest to God. The mission is simple: rely on grace, speak the Good News, and leave the outcome in God’s hands.

Many of us can remember particular instances when God’s care has touched our lives. We know the tenderness of God who has carried us through illness and disability; we know the psalmist’s longing for renewal; and we know the simplicity of mission—going where we are sent, offering peace, and trusting that the Lord will accomplish what He desires through our smallness.

Today, as we approach the altar, let the Lord lift us again to His cheek, restore our hearts, and send us forth with the quiet confidence that His Kingdom is near.