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From: Hosea 8:4-7, 11-13

Kings and princes condemned

[4] They made kings, but not through me.
They set up princes, but without my knowledge.
With their silver and gold they made idols
for their own destruction.
[5] l have spurned your calf, O Samaria.
My anger burns against them.
How long will it he
till they are pure [6] in Israel?

A workman made it;
it is not God.
The calf of Samaria
shall be broken to pieces.
[7] For they sow the wind,
and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads,
it shall yield no meal;
if it were to yield,
aliens would devour it.

Israel ruined by relying on foreign help

[11]Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning,
they have become to him altars for sinning.
[12] Were I to write for him my laws by ten thousands,
they would be regarded as a strange thing.
[13] They love sacrifice;
they sacrifice flesh and eat it;
but the Lord has no delight in them.
Now he will remember their iniquity,
and punish their sins;
they shall return to Egypt.

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Commentary:

8:1-14. This passage begins and ends with imperatives (v. 1; cf. 9:1). The first stanza (vv. 1-7) gives God’s order to Hosea to be his herald (to blow the trumpet or horn), to warn against impending danger: a vulture is hovering over “the house of the Lord”, probably a reference to the shrine at Bethel (v. 1). The people respond (“My God”: v. 2) and back their cry for help by saying that he should hear them because they acknowledge him as their God: “we Israel know thee.”

But the Lord, through the prophet, says that that is not so: Israel does not know him, for it has “spurned the good” (v. 3). The prophet denounces two sins here: they have acted without reference to God, by appointing kings “but not through me” (v. 4); and they have made idols of silver and gold (the golden calf of Samaria gets special mention: vv. 4-5). These are grievous sins; therefore, having sown the wind, “they shall reap the whirlwind”, to quote the proverb, and a short wisdom maxim tells them what punishment awaits them (vv. 6-7).

The punishment announced in v. 7 (being “devoured by aliens”) has already befallen Israel in the first verse of the second stanza (vv. 8-14), which denounces foreign pacts (vv. 9-10) and the idolatry that Israel falls into as a consequence of them (vv. I l-13). The prophet begins by saying that the alliances that Israel tries to make with foreign powers, involving probably tribute to the king of Assyria (vv. 8-10), will be to no avail. What these three verses seem to be saying is thatIsrael now tries to make alliances that are at odds with its true nature: inevitably, they will take its freedom away. The oracle goes on to denounce the effects that these pacts will have on worship of the Lord: there will he an increased number of places of worship but, because Canaanite rites will he mixed in with Yahwist ones, the religious services, far from expiating sins, will multiply them (v. 11). Moreover, even the offerings that they do make to the Lord will not be pleasing to him, for they will not he backed up by fulfilment of the Law of the Lord (vv. 12-13). The same point is being made as in 6:6: “Outward sacrifice, to he genuine, must be the expression of spiritual sacrifice: ‘The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit ...‘ (Ps 51:19). The prophets of the Old Covenant often denounced sacrifices that were not from the heart or not coupled with love of neighbour” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2100). So, the prophet sees that Israel needs to he cleansed; hence the threat that “they shall return to Egypt”, that is, become enslaved once again.

The last verse re-introduces the idea of “forgetting God”. By building palaces and fortresses, Israel is showing that he “has forgotten his Maker”, that is, does not put his trust in him: if Assyria “devours” part of the nation’s land (vv. 8-9), the fire of God will “devour” the strongholds, on which it had relied (v. 14). “Forgetting God” is a favourite theme of Hosea’s (cf. 2:13; 4:6), but the threat of destruction by fire is repeated a number of times in Amos (cf. Amos 1:4, 7, 10, 12; 2:5).

RSV

From: Matthew 9:32-38

The Dumb Devil

[32] As they were going away, behold, a dumb demoniac was brought to Him (Jesus). [33] And when the demon had been cast out, the dumb man spoke; and the crowds marvelled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” [34] But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”

The Need for Good Shepherds

[35] And Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every infirmity. [36] When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. [37] Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; [38] pray therefore the Lord of harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

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Commentary:

35. The Second Vatican Council uses this passage when teaching about the message of Christian charity which the Church should always be spreading: “Christian charity is extended to all without distinction of race, social condition or religion, and seeks neither gain nor gratitude. Just as God loves us with a gratuitous love, so too the faithful, in their charity, should be concerned for mankind, loving it with that same love with which God sought man. As Christ went about all the towns and villages healing every sickness and infirmity, as a sign that the Kingdom of God had come, so the Church, through its children, joins itself with men of every condition, but especially with the poor and afflicted, and willingly spends herself for them” (”Ad Gentes”, 12).

36. “He had compassion for them”: the Greek verb is very expressive; it means “He was deeply moved”. Jesus was moved when He saw the people, because their pastors, instead of guiding them and tending them, led them astray, behaving more like wolves than genuine shepherds of their flock. Jesus sees the prophecy of Ezekiel 34 as now being fulfilled; in that passage God, through the prophet, upbraids the false shepherds of Israel and promises to send them the Messiah to be their new leader.

“If we were consistent with our faith when we looked around us and contemplated the world and its history, we would be unable to avoid feeling in our own hearts the same sentiments that filled the heart of our Lord” ([St] J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 133). Reflection on the spiritual needs of the world should lead us to be tirelessly apostolic.

37-38. After contemplating the crowds neglected by their shepherds, Jesus uses the image of the harvest to show us that that same crowd is ready to receive the effects of Redemption: “I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see now the fields are already white for harvest” (John 4:35). The field of the Jewish people cultivated by the prophets—most recently by John the Baptist—is full of ripe wheat. In farm work, the harvest is lost if the farmer does not reap at the right time; down the centuries the Church feels a similar need to be out harvesting because there is a big harvest ready to be won.

However, as in the time of Jesus, there is a shortage of laborers. Our Lord tells us how to deal with this: we should pray to God, the Lord of harvest, to send the necessary laborers. If a Christian prays hard, it is difficult to imagine his not feeling urged to play his part in this apostolate. In obeying this commandment to pray for laborers, we should pray especially for there to be no lack of shepherds, who will be able to equip others with the necessary means of sanctification needed to back up the apostolate.

In this connection [Pope] Paul VI reminds us: “the responsibility for spreading the Gospel that saves belongs to everyone—to all who have received it! The missionary duty concerns the whole body of the Church; in different ways and to different degrees, it is true, but we must all of us be united in carrying out this duty. Now let the conscience of every believer ask himself: Have I carried out my missionary duty? Prayer for the Missions is the first way of fulfilling this duty” (”Angelus Address”, 23 October 1977).