Wednesday of the 14th Week of Ordinary Time
Israel is a luxuriant vine that produces his fruit. According to the abundance of his fruit he has multiplied his altars. As their land has prospered, they have adorned their sacred stones. Their heart is divided. Now they will be found guilty. He will demolish their altars. He will destroy their sacred stones. Surely now they will say, "We have no king; for we don't fear the Lord; And the king, what can he do for us?"
Samaria and her king float away Like a twig on the water. The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed. The thorn and the thistle will come up on their altars. They will tell the mountains, "Cover us!" and the hills, "Fall on us!"
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, Reap according to kindness. Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord, Until he comes and rains righteousness on you.
Sing to him, sing praises to him! Tell of all his marvelous works. Glory in his holy name. Let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his face forever more. Remember his marvelous works that he has done: His wonders, and the judgments of his mouth,
You offspring of Abraham, his servant, You children of Jacob, his chosen ones. He is the Lord, our God. His judgments are in all the earth.
He called to himself his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every sickness. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these. The first, Simon, who is called Peter; Andrew, his brother; James the son of Zebedee; John, his brother; Philip; Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus; Lebbaeus, who was also called Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
Jesus sent these twelve out and commanded them, saying, "Don't go among the Gentiles, and don't enter into any city of the Samaritans. Rather, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, preach, saying, 'The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!'"
There's a restlessness at the center of these readings — a kind of spiritual scattered-ness that feels remarkably familiar. Hosea describes Israel as a vine that has grown abundant, prosperous even, and yet whose heart is *divided*. That phrase lands with quiet force. Not corrupt, not rebellious in some dramatic way — just divided. Pulled in too many directions to be fully present to the one who matters most.
We know this feeling. We live it on ordinary Wednesday afternoons, when our attention is fractured across a dozen half-finished things, when we've built up our own small altars to productivity or comfort or approval, and we've quietly stopped asking what the Lord wants from the day.
Notice how Hosea doesn't end in condemnation. The prophet pivots: *"Sow to yourselves in righteousness. Break up your fallow ground."* In ancient agriculture, fallow ground was land that had been left unworked — not ruined, just neglected, hardened over time. The image is tender and practical at once. The soil isn't dead. It just needs turning.
Then comes Matthew, and there's something almost startling in its simplicity. Jesus calls twelve ordinary, named, specific people — a tax collector, a zealot, a man who will betray him — and sends them out with real authority. Not when they're ready. Not after years of formation. Now. *The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.*
What becomes clear across both readings is that God doesn't wait for perfect conditions. The mission goes out into the world as it is. We are sent as we are — divided hearts and all — into the fallow places around us, with the simple announcement that something new is breaking in.
The question worth carrying today: Where has your own heart grown divided? What ground in your life has gone unturned? And what would it look like to seek the Lord — not someday, but right now, in the middle of this ordinary day?