When we deliberately and habitually alienate ourselves from God through sin, when we choose to remain in this state of alienation for a long time without concern or remorse, then we are saying that our love is not directed towards the true God but towards a god made more according to our wants and desires. Even though we have been covenanted to God in baptism, even though we have been loved by God unconditionally, we choose to be unfaithful to our commitment of love. This was the situation of Israel in the Old Testament in its espousal relationship to God. Through sin they broke the covenant. Through sin we break our covenant with God.

What is God's response? Listen to the words of God spoken through the prophet Hosea concerning  the infidelity of Israel and ours: "So I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart....I will make a new covenant for them on that day....I will espouse you to me forever; I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy; I will espouse you in fidelity and you shall know the Lord" (Ho 2: 16, 20, 21-22).

It is not enough just to come back to the Lord through repentance and the sacrament of reconciliation. How often have we done this in the past and then find ourselves running away again like a prodigal son or daughter? We mean well at the time of our return, but the law of sin within us seems too much for us to reject. So like the Israelites in the desert we allow the yearning to return to the flesh pots of our personal Egypt once more to overcome us.

The great miracle is that throughout this  spiritual roller coaster of fidelity and  infidelity, this off and on, hot and cold response on our part, God's love for us remains  unchanged. "My ways are not your ways; my thoughts are not your thoughts." (To be continued)