"I am loved by God more than I can either conceive or understand" writes Abbe de Tourville, a spiritual writer. This is precisely what Hosea proclaims when he speaks of the mercy of God, whilst other prophets before him merely denounced the Israelites of the eighth century B.C. for their infamous crimes against God and State, predicting inexorable punishment on them. Rather, Hosea sees with tenderness and sympathy, not only God's sense of justice but also His infinite love. Using the parallel of his own heartbreak at the hands of an unfaithful wife, Hosea is aware that God's relationship with an unfaithful Israel is moral, not physical, and he interprets God as saying, in forgiveness and acceptance, "I will betroth you to myself for ever, betroth you with integrity and justice, with tenderness and love... with faithfulness." (Hosea 2:21-22). Through this mercy and love will Israel "come to know the Lord" (Hosea 2:22 ).

This same mercy and love that God shows the wayward Israel is what moves Jesus in His encounters with the official in His hometown of Capernaum and with the woman with the haemorrhage. Both revealed great faith in the healing powers of Jesus even though they knew little about Him and His mission. Yet both are the occasions for Him to reveal in action what God's love and mercy mean.