A wealth of spiritual insight is afforded us through today’s readings which present to us a powerful critique of idolatry and a call to mission under the protective care of the one and only, true and living God. Besides him, there are no others. In the first reading, the prophet Hosea warns the people of Israel against their idolatrous practices, saying that they have made gods for themselves and grieved the one true God in their wicked ways. They have turned away from the only true God who has ever revealed himself to them and have created their own false deities, which will ultimately lead to their destruction.