“I will heal their faithlessness; I will love them freely” (Hos 14:5).
These are the words of our heavenly Father to the people of Israel, who have so often gone astray and who should have understood, at least by feeling the consequences, what happens when you turn to other gods. But sadly, people are often unwilling to listen to God. Even when terrible plagues come upon them to awaken them, they may continue to sin and not abandon their abominable ways.
How different is our Father! He has to see with His own eyes how His beloved children go astray. How much He would like to bless them with all His good things and make His love known to them! Indeed, His love has not ceased, even if it cannot yet enter the heart of a person who does not fulfil the conditions. So He waits, He calls, He invites, He warns of the consequences of turning away from God. But His love is never extinguished, even if man does not perceive it.
Our Father wants to heal people’s infidelities, if only they are willing to be healed. The consequences of sin have penetrated deep into their souls and have dulled their beauty, sometimes deforming them so that they are almost unrecognisable. But our Father is able to heal even this. He sends the Holy Spirit into the depths of our souls to touch all offenses against love and truth and to lead us to the sources of salvation. God does not want to impute our sins to us, nor does He want them to grow into a mountain of debt that crushes us and that we could never pay.
As the Lord says through the prophet Hosea, He wants to love us freely. He wants to overlook our sins and forgive them – however serious they may have been – if only we will turn to Him.
This is our Father! So we can hope and praise His generosity.