St Peters RC Church Hamilton

“ ‘I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in loving kindness and mercy’.” (Hosea 2 v 19)

Such is the promise delivered by Jesus,

Made real to us by the qualifying Spirit.

This Covenant promised is as firm as a wedding vow,

An avowal of long time, full term love.

The permanence God shows us,

His unfailing love and mercy,

His call to right standards, including fair treatment,

A steadfast tenderness and kindness,

All enhanced by a continuous self revelation,

This is the work of the Spirit of Pentecost,

Making God’s presence profoundly evident through Jesus.

Many, very many are the marvels of mercy.

“ ‘It shall come to pass in that day that I will answer,’ says the LORD. ‘I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth. The earth shall answer with grain, with new wine and with oil’.” (Hosea 2

v 21, 22)

“ ‘Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; then I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people.” And they shall say, ‘You are my God’!” (Hosea 2 v 23)

O Lord, how we need the mercy of Your love in all its patient, tolerant, compassionate aspects, outlooks, tendencies. Thank You for making this available to us through Jesus. Thank You for activating this by the

Spirit of Pentecost.

O Lord, what would we do without You? Where would we be? Who would we be? What quality of life would we enjoy? You, together with Your Son and Your Spirit, are everything to us. Thank You for the marvels of Your mercy, especially Your betrothal to us.

How deeply You must love us to want to keep hold of us in spite of our waywardness. How compassionate You are to forgive us through Jesus hanging on the †for us to pray the penalty for all our sin.

How patient You are to grant us a new start in life, a share in the resurrected life of Jesus as the Spirit of Pentecost directs and develops, inspires and impacts upon us. You must regard us as worth the effort.

“ ‘Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son (daughter) of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you’.” (Isaiah 49 v 15) Your mercy is constant in affection for us. We are never forsaken.

And this is proved in the communion bread and wine, our faith’s sustenance and nourishment as Jesus is made present to us, thank You. Also we are most grateful for the oil of anointing, especially as used for

healing. Again your tenderness is evident.

“I will sing of mercy and justice;” (Psalm 101 v 1) for they go together. “To You, O LORD, I will sing praises.” (Cont) For “As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him.” (Psalm 103 v 14) Is this because You know how feeble we are?

Thank You that Your Spirit makes Your mercy so evident to us through Jesus our Saviour, so loving in the face of our defencelessness and our undeserving Jesus proves to us that “ ‘With everlasting kindness I will

have mercy on you’,” (Isaiah 54 v 8) You say. The marvels of mercy mean Your kindness shall never depart from us, neither shall Your covenant of peace be removed, thank You. Amen.