“The thief on the Cross reminds us that God’s forgiveness is available until our last breath. Today, October 17, the Orthodox Church commemorates the Prophet Hosea, who ministered in the Northern Kingdom of Israel around 750–724 BC, more than 2,700 years ago, and who offers us an astonishing message of hope.
To unfaithful Israel, God declares: “And I will betroth you to myself forever and I will betroth you to myself in righteousness and in justice and in kindness and in compassion” (Hosea 2:19).
Not merely reconciliation, not simply a restored marriage, but a new betrothal! A completely new beginning!
As Saint Jerome beautifully explains in his Commentary on Hosea (PL 25:840): ‘When a man marries, he turns a virgin into a woman, that is, a non-virgin. But, when God joins with the prostitutes, he changes them into virgins.’
Have you wasted your life? Broken a relationship? Lost hope? Rise up! God’s forgiveness can bring new life from the ashes. For God does not merely repair what is broken. He restores it to its original beauty!”