Daily Retreat 06/08/08
2008 Jun 8 SUN: TENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Hos 6: 3-6/ Ps 49(50): 1. 8. 12-13. 14-15 (23b)/ Rom 4: 18-25/ Mt 9: 9-13
From today’s readings: “ It is love that I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than holocausts.... To the upright I will show the saving power of God.... Abraham believed, hoping against hope.... I did not come to call the righteous but sinners....”
What God wants
Speaking through the prophet Hosea, God insisted that “it is love that I desire, not sacrifice...!” After the call of Matthew, Jesus quotes that same verse, emphasizing the importance of learning the meaning of those words!
I know some people are intimidated or just put off by linguistic distinctions, but please stay with me here as we follow the Lord’s recommendation to learn the meaning of these words. In this case especially, a little language study is quite essential, since you probably already noticed that many translations show a discrepancy between the original verse (Hosea 6:6) “it is love that I desire, not sacrifice...” (translated from the Old Testament Hebrew) and Christ’s quotation (Matt 9:13, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice...” (translated from the New Testament Greek).
In the first reading, the Hebrew word hesed is what is rendered in English as love - “It is love (hesed) that I desire...” While hesed certainly does mean love, since the word conveys a particularly rich nuance in Hebrew, no single English word is an exact equivalent, and so translations will vary greatly: “merciful love,” “faithful love,” “compassionate faithfulness,” etc. My Hebrew dictionary gives 1 ½ pages of possibilities!
Many times in the Old Testament, God’s love for us is denoted as hesed, that rich, merciful, compassionate, faithful love. But, as in the book of Hosea, God then insists that we extend that same hesed to Him (hence, the word is sometimes translated piety) and to one another.
Now since the New Testament was written in Greek, most Old Testament quotations and allusions follow the Septuagint, which is the most important Greek translation of the Old Testament. So, the Greek word eleos (usually rendered in English as mercy or compassion) is found both in the Gospel original, and in the Septuagint translation of Hosea 6:6 - “I desire mercy (eleos)...” As a translation of the Hebrew word hesed, the Greek word eleos is certainly justifiable, although it narrows the semantic focus somewhat.
So, God clearly is not interested in animal sacrifices - the responsorial psalm even pokes fun at the notion that God would hunger for such things, “Do I eat the flesh of strong bulls, or is the blood of goats My drink?” But, emphatically, God does desire compassionate, merciful love - this is what He continually offers to us (since, as Jesus reminds us, He came to call sinners...) and it is what He looks for from us - faithful, compassionate, merciful love for one another!
Hos 6: 3-6/ Ps 49(50): 1. 8. 12-13. 14-15 (23b)/ Rom 4: 18-25/ Mt 9: 9-13
From today’s readings: “ It is love that I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than holocausts.... To the upright I will show the saving power of God.... Abraham believed, hoping against hope.... I did not come to call the righteous but sinners....”
What God wants
Speaking through the prophet Hosea, God insisted that “it is love that I desire, not sacrifice...!” After the call of Matthew, Jesus quotes that same verse, emphasizing the importance of learning the meaning of those words!
I know some people are intimidated or just put off by linguistic distinctions, but please stay with me here as we follow the Lord’s recommendation to learn the meaning of these words. In this case especially, a little language study is quite essential, since you probably already noticed that many translations show a discrepancy between the original verse (Hosea 6:6) “it is love that I desire, not sacrifice...” (translated from the Old Testament Hebrew) and Christ’s quotation (Matt 9:13, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice...” (translated from the New Testament Greek).
In the first reading, the Hebrew word hesed is what is rendered in English as love - “It is love (hesed) that I desire...” While hesed certainly does mean love, since the word conveys a particularly rich nuance in Hebrew, no single English word is an exact equivalent, and so translations will vary greatly: “merciful love,” “faithful love,” “compassionate faithfulness,” etc. My Hebrew dictionary gives 1 ½ pages of possibilities!
Many times in the Old Testament, God’s love for us is denoted as hesed, that rich, merciful, compassionate, faithful love. But, as in the book of Hosea, God then insists that we extend that same hesed to Him (hence, the word is sometimes translated piety) and to one another.
Now since the New Testament was written in Greek, most Old Testament quotations and allusions follow the Septuagint, which is the most important Greek translation of the Old Testament. So, the Greek word eleos (usually rendered in English as mercy or compassion) is found both in the Gospel original, and in the Septuagint translation of Hosea 6:6 - “I desire mercy (eleos)...” As a translation of the Hebrew word hesed, the Greek word eleos is certainly justifiable, although it narrows the semantic focus somewhat.
So, God clearly is not interested in animal sacrifices - the responsorial psalm even pokes fun at the notion that God would hunger for such things, “Do I eat the flesh of strong bulls, or is the blood of goats My drink?” But, emphatically, God does desire compassionate, merciful love - this is what He continually offers to us (since, as Jesus reminds us, He came to call sinners...) and it is what He looks for from us - faithful, compassionate, merciful love for one another!
posted by FrPitstick | 6/03/2008
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