Oh, Hosea!

If you know a little something about Mom Dolan or me, you know that when Andrew is gone (mainly Ranger School) or deployed we wear our prayer box necklaces. I have not taken mine off since the day he left, and I don't plan on it until he is finally in my arms again. It is basically a small box (about the size of a centimeter cube) that has a top that can actually open and close and you can put a prayer inside. Shannon's kids love to sit on my lap and say prayers for Uncle AJ, and they always touch my heart. Just today, Gavin said this prayer: "Dear Father, thank you for us going to church and having pizza for dinner. God love my family and Uncle AJ when he is in Afghanistan. Amen." Pretty amazing for a not-yet-three-year-old!

My prayer box (sorry for the blurry cell phone pic!) You can't really tell but mine has an american flag drawn on the front. I have noticed that whenever I am stressed or nervous or really contemplating a decision, I will fiddle with the latch and open and close the lid over and over, partly a nervous habit, but partially because I find it helps bring me peace of mind to be prayerful about whatever is happening.

On Thursday night (well, actually the wee hours in the morning on Friday) I finished Redeeming Love, a book Mom had given me to read two months ago. It took me a little while to get into it, but once I got going, I could not put it down. She gave it to me because it was the book that introduced her to the prayer box. It is a beautiful story, set in California in the 1850s, about a man, Michael Hosea, who sees a harlot on the street, Angel, and is spoken to by God that he is destined to love and marry this "soiled dove" and help her to find truth in Faith. It is clear that the author is re-telling the story of the Book of Hosea from the Old Testament. I highly recommend this book (mainly to women), it is unlike anything I have ever read before, but I honestly couldn't get enough of it. Even though I finished it several days ago, I still can't get Angel and Michael's story of faith, hope, and love out of my mind.

This was a perfect time for me to be reading (and finishing) this book, as I continue on in my own faith journey. I am currently in the RCIA (Rite of Catholic Initiation for Adults) process, though our parish church at St. Peter. Each Thursday Mom and I go to a two hour class with other candidates and their sponsors to learn, discuss and reflect on the teachings and beliefs of the Catholic faith. Today was my biggest step in the process so far, as my whole class was recognized by our parish and Father Dave and sent to be approved by Bishop McFadden to go forth with the final stage before our confirmation into Catholicism. It was a very moving day, with Mass this morning to celebrate the Rite of Sending at St. Peter and then the Rite of Election at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Harrisburg. It truly stuck me when we were at the Cathedral today, just how many people are on this journey with me, and all for various reasons. In the Diocese of Harrisburg, between 550 and 600 individuals go through the RCIA process and convert to Catholicism each year.

At this morning's mass, we sang a song called Come Back to Me from the Book of Hosea. As soon as I saw the title of the song (listed in the songbook as "Hosea (Come Back to Me)") I got chills. Before reading Redeeming Love, I don't think that I had ever heard of Hosea, and I definitely didn't know that Hosea was a Book in the Bible, and now here he was in my songbook this special day in my journey! The words of this song spoke to me on a multitude of different levels. The refrain is as follows:

Long have I waited for 

Your coming home to me

And living deeply our new life

Although definitely not the intent of this song, my first thought was of Andrew, and how I long for the day he comes home to me and we can begin to build our new life together. However, upon further reflection, and after singing some of the verses, I also began to understand why we were singing such a song in church, especially on this day. Hosea (both in the Bible, and Redeeming Love) loved his wife without fail, no matter what she did to betray him, just as God loves His children unconditionally, even when they do not obey or follow Him.

My experience with Redeeming Love really came full circle today. There could not have been a better time for me to read that book, and having everything click, just made it that much better and more enjoyable. Although I was baptized and brought up Christian, I  was not raised going to church every week and I was never strong in my beliefs or my faith. I am slowly beginning to fill the void that I didn't know existed in my life and in my heart. It will be a long time before I forget the power of this day and the blessings it brought me.