Homily | July 10, 2026 | Return To Me | (Episode 192)

If I had to summarize the entire spiritual life in one sentence, it might be the very first line of today's first reading.

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God.

Notice that God does not say, Hey, I want you to start over.

He doesn't say, earn your way back.

He does not say, prove yourselves worthy.

No, he simply says, return.

It's one of the most beautiful words in the Bible, because it reminds us that Christianity is not primarily about never falling.

It's about returning.

Every saint had to return.

Saint Peter returned after denying Christ.

The prodigal son returned after wasting his inheritance.

Saint Augustine returned after years of chasing everything except God.

Holiness is not the absence of failure.

Holiness is the refusal to stay away from the Father's house.

Then Hosea gives us something remarkable.

He tells the people exactly what to bring when they return.

Not sacrifices, not money, not impressive achievements.

He says, Take with you words and return to the Lord.

It's beautiful.

God simply wants an honest conversation.

He wants us to be able to say, Lord, I have sinned against you.

Lord, please forgive me.

Lord, I need you.

Lord, I want you in my life.

That's why confession is such a powerful sacrament.

God is not waiting for a polished speech.

He's waiting for your heart, a humble heart.

Then comes one of my favorite verses in all of Hosea.

God says, I will heal their defection.

I will love them freely.

Notice the order.

First God heals, then he loves.

No, he heals because he already loves.

We often think God loves us once we've changed.

No.

Now, if we turn to the gospel, it says exactly the opposite.

God loves us first.

That's the heart of Christianity.

Grace always comes before growth.

Mercy always comes before holiness.

Love comes before transformation.

And because God's love is free, no one here is beyond his mercy.

Not the person who has been away from the church, not the one person who's been carrying a deep sin, years of regret, not the one who thinks, well, I made too many mistakes.

I'm way past redemption.

No, God's invitation is always the same.

Return to me.

Then Jesus gives the apostles a very different message in the gospel.

He does not promise them comfort, he promises opposition.

He says, I'm sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves.

It's not exactly a recruiting slogan.

Imagine interviewing for a job and hearing that.

You'll be misunderstood, you'll be hated, you'll be persecuted.

And yet that's exactly what Jesus says.

Why?

Well, because he wants his disciples to understand something very clearly.

The goal of Christianity is not to avoid suffering, the goal is to remain faithful through suffering.

One of the great mistakes Christians make is thinking that difficulties mean God has abandoned us.

Well, the saints knew better.

Sometimes opposition is not evidence that you're doing something wrong.

Sometimes it's evidence that you're doing something right.

Jesus himself was rejected.

The apostles were rejected.

Nearly every saint was rejected at some point.

Faithfulness has never been measured by popularity.

It's always been measured by perseverance.

That's why Jesus ends with these powerful words.

Whoever endures to the end will be saved.

Notice he does not say whoever begins well.

Many people begin well.

But he says, whoever endures.

The Christian life is not a sprint, it's a marathon.

It is choosing Christ today, tomorrow, and the day after that.

It's returning after every fall, trusting after every disappointment, praying when you don't feel like it, structuring your life, having a great discipline to God, remaining faithful when no one notices.

So today, perhaps the Lord is asking each of us two questions.

Where do I need to return?

And second, am I looking for an easy Christian life or a faithful one?

Because the promise of Jesus is not the road that will be easy.

The promise is that He will walk with us in our difficulties, in our sufferings.

And in the end, that's more than anything.

Amen.