RBWords

     In Advent and Lent, the penitential seasons, we are likely to hear a hymn at a Reconciliation Service that begins, "Come back to me, with all your heart!  Don't let fear keep us apart....."  The title of that hymn is "Hosea."  Those opening words pretty much sum up the message of Hosea.  The final words of his book end with the words quoted above.  

     The Lord's ways are indeed straight, but there are very few who can follow them without stumbling.  One might say we have periods when our footsteps show a straight and determined line, and periods where we are weaving from side to side, and maybe even points at which we veer completely off.  The important thing is to keep moving forward and trying to keep as straight a path as possible within the path of the Lord.  What leads us off the path are certain "ruts" that we create.  Patterns of behavior can become destructive.  Things that we do "once in awhile" can become regular.  After hearing confessions for more than 47 years all over this country, I can say these struggles are the common lot of us all.

     Hosea summons us to be wise.  Wisdom requires that we look at ourselves honestly and if we are people of faith, ask what our path looks like on the Lord's path.  We are constantly begged by God and prophet alike to return to the right path.  The hymn, "Hosea" has a refrain:  "Long have I waited for your coming home to me...."  This is wisdom.  AMEN