Today’s Gospel for Mass on the feast of the Holy Family quotes the prophet Hosea: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Because this weekend is the celebration of the Holy Family and not a reflection on Matthew’s use of Old Testament quotations, that line probably won’t get much air time in the homilies. Because of that, I want to reflect on it here, and really, the whole of Hosea 11, the chapter that line comes from.
During the several silent retreats that I went on as a part of my seminary formation, Hosea 11 was an often-used scripture passage assigned to me by my spiritual directors. In it, the prophet speaks in the person of God – or God speaks through the mouth and pen of the prophet – about the “person” of Israel, the whole people. “Israel” becomes the name of the whole people seen as a single person growing up from childhood to adulthood – a common way of speaking about the people of Israel throughout the scriptures. We even see this more maturely formulated in St. Paul’s consideration of the Body of Christ, the Church, though the unity of the Body of Christ is even more profound than the unity of the people of Israel.
Still, the Lord speaks of his mercy toward the people of Israel in this passage. He has called his child, Israel, out of Egypt, and they saw his wonders. They knew his might, but they still turned away from him, repeatedly. This caused God’s wrath to flare up, but in his love for Israel, he did not destroy them. Instead, he continued to draw them to himself, to heal them. We see in this passage one of those places even in the Old Testament that the merciful and Fatherly love of God is displayed in full force.
This passage is well-worth reading in the season of Christmas as well. We read in the letter of St. Paul to the Romans 5:8, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We could take it back a step and recognize that while we were still sinners, the Word chose to become flesh for us in order to die for us. Since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, God has continued to call his people back to himself, calling the patriarchs, Moses, the Kings, and the Prophets. He made covenants with them and people did draw near him. Without fail, though, his people continued, time and again, to turn away from him.
He did not abandon his people. Out of Egypt he called his son, and he only continues to do so. Back in Hosea 11, the Lord cries out in anguish over his rebellious child, “How could I give you up, O Ephraim!” (another name for Israel). The Lord continues after several more statements of that sort, “My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my fierce anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; … I will not come in wrath.” Truly, centuries later, God did not come in wrath. He did not abandon his people or give them up. He did not execute his fierce anger by destroying them. Instead, he gave vent to that anger by entering our human condition and destroying the cause of our downfall, sin, and its consequence, death.
Praise be Jesus Christ for the redemption wrought through his incarnation. What a work of grace! What a work of the beauty of the heart of God! What a powerful testament to the grandeur of God’s mercy! Jesus entered the “Egypt” of the human condition to bring us all out of that place of slavery. May we never stray from his loving heart. He draws us by that love. Jesus, draw me to the Father. Amen.