Daily Meditation - Tuesday 8July - SEWING WHAT ONE REAPS - MERCY AND LOVE REAPS PEACE AND JOY

[BarbaraTherese]

Mass Readings & Meditation
Readings

Meditation
Hosea 8:4-7,11-13

During his prophetic ministry to the northern kingdom of Israel (753-722 b.c.), Hosea took aim at the futility of the people’s false worship.

• An example comes from today’s oracle against the “calf of Samaria.”
• Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom, and sometimes in the Bible, a reference to “Samaria” meant the whole nation of Israel.
• The “calf” refers to the two golden calf idols that King Jeroboam I of Israel set up at sanctuaries in Bethel and Dan.
• Jeroboam had encouraged his people to worship these idols, but Hosea identified the futility of such worship.
• Hosea likened the worship of these idols to "sowing the wind."

Nothing fruitful or beneficial could come from such false worship.

• Hosea warned the Israelites that if they sowed the wind,
• they would “reap the whirlwind” of God’s judgment.
• His prophecies were fulfilled when Assyria conquered Israel in 722 b.c. and sent most of the people into captivity.

Using these familiar agricultural terms of sowing and reaping, Hosea identified a central truth of the kingdom of God:

• We will reap what we sow.
• Other parts of Scripture also identify this same truth.
• For example, St. Paul wrote that if we sow to please the Spirit, we will reap eternal life from the Spirit (Galatians 6:7-8).
• If we sow good seed in good soil,
• we will reap the benefits and receive good spiritual fruit.

But if we sow bad seed in bad soil, our efforts will be futile. Only harm and destruction will result.

• What—and where—are you sowing these days?
• What are you reaping?
• Do you believe that the Lord wants only good for you?

The more you sow mercy in your relationships, the more you will reap love and peace.

• The more you sow in the spiritual life,
• the closer to Jesus you will become and the more sure you will be about God’s work in your life.

Today, make the commitment to live by the Spirit and sow in the Spirit. As you do, you will begin to reap in the Spirit.

“Holy Spirit, thank you for living in me. Help me to live more and more in your power, so that I might be more like Jesus and be empowered to build his kingdom.”