Sacred Heart of Jesus
“When Israel was a child I loved him.”
The reading from Hosea speaks of God’s love for Israel as the love of a parent for an infant, lifting them up to his cheek tenderly. It is a beautiful image. God loves us not only as his children but as his little children. He is eternal and knows us and every moment of our life remains present to him; he knows us as the little children we were when we were all cute and innocent. He wants us to remain true to who we were then, he wants us to regain our innocence; to rediscover our natural relationship with him, our heavenly Father, the parent of our souls. If you look at the prophet Hosea though, Israel struggles to remain in that relationship. They are constantly led astray by the lure of other gods, led into slavery.
“Out of Egypt I called my son.”
God calls us out of slavery into sonship. He calls us our of sin, to turn and become like little children. But this text is applied in the New Testament to Christ. Matthew (2:9) sees this prophecy fulfilled when the child Jesus returned to Palestine out of Egypt. It is the beginning of what will be a master-symbol of the New Testament, namely Christ as operating a new Exodus, leading us out of the Egypt of sin. Just as Moses is described as the meekest of men (cf. Num 12:3), Jesus, the new Moses, is meek and humble of heart (Mt 11:29). That meekness is the meekness of a child. “A little child will lead them,” says Isaiah (11:6); Christ leads us back to spiritual childhood by himself having the innocent heart of a child.
John Henry Newman meditates on this. He points out how we are scandalised when we hear of a child tortured or murdered. What moves our heart more than a suffering child? – because of their innocence; because they are unable to protect themselves against the malice of the world. But then he points out that this reaction should apply to Christ’s crucifixion, for he is truly innocent like a child. He chose not to protect himself against the malice of the world, but to take it into his heart, to be wounded by it without retaliation, responding on the contrary with love.
A suffering child moves us to pity in a very natural, instinctive way. It doesn’t work quite like that with Christ’s crucifixion however; we have to learn to see him as a child. We have to come to a deep, personal knowledge of him, of the innocence and childlikeness of his heart. Then we will return to the natural relationship with our Father, led by the little child Jesus with the leading strings of love back to the joy of being children of God.
–fr Philip-Thomas
| Hosea 11:1,3-4,8-9 When Israel was a child I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt. I myself taught Ephraim to walk, I took them in my arms; yet they have not understood that I was the one looking after them. I led them with reins of kindness, with leading-strings of love. I was like someone who lifts an infant close against his cheek; stooping down to him I gave him his food. Ephraim, how could I part with you? Israel, how could I give you up? How could I treat you like Admah, or deal with you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils from it, my whole being trembles at the thought. I will not give rein to my fierce anger, I will not destroy Ephraim again, for I am God, not man: I am the Holy One in your midst and have no wish to destroy. |
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Casting Fire 