The readings today remind us that while the path that leads to God is the straight one of mercy, justice and love, it is not necessarily an easy one. Hosea's call to the people is eloquent: turn around and come home to God where you belong! Tell God you admit your evil deeds, and you will receive not only forgiveness but also the blessings of prosperity. This prosperity, however, is not to be measured in merely human terms: it is, rather, a spiritual flourishing that results from a right relationship with God. Jesus also warns us that being proclaimers of the kingdom is not always going to bring security and honour. This, indeed, has been the experience of the community of believers down through the centuries, yet at the same time the truth of the guidance of the Spirit has also been a lived reality for the Church. As Christians perhaps we ought to be more uneasy when it is all 'too easy'. The conversion demanded by following the Gospel ought to make us radical people: people deeply rooted in the Lord, who follow wherever He leads.