Journeying to the Promised Land

In today's first reading, Deuteronomy 34: 1-12, Moses is shown the Promised land but not allowed to enter it, as the result of falling short of the faith God expected of him as leader of His chosen people.  Good and evil, faith and doubt, love and a deficit of love exists in each one of us and was/is present in all ages.  Such strengths and weaknesses exists in all religions, in all families, in every society and culture, in every human being who shares life with us  here on this earth. We need each other. The good in another challenges the evil in me and in you and vice versa. The strengths we witness in another gives us the courage to rise above our own weaknesses. Another's faith strengthens my faith and yours and vice versa.  We all meet God's expectations  and fall short of what God desires of us!  The only constant is God and God alone! 

In today's responsorial psalm, we pray:"Blessed be God who filled my soul with fire!"  That fire inspires, strengthens, purifies us, as it did Moses.  Though denied entrance into the promised land that God promised his chosen people here on earth, Moses did enter the Promised Land of eternal life.  Like Moses, you and I may not enjoy "promised lands" here on earth that we see others enjoy, yet the promised land of eternal life is not denied those of us who believe in Christ Jesus, repent of our sinful behaviors, choose good over evil and accept the gift of salvation.  May our souls be "filled with [the] fire" of longing to see God face to face eternity!

The Graciousness and Kindness of our God

In today’s first reading, Is 49: 8-15, the prophet says to us:

Along the ways,…[you] shall find pasture,
On every bare height shall…your pastures be…
For…[God] who pities[you] leads [you]
and guides [you] beside springs of water.
[God] will cut a road through all [your] mountains,
And make [your] highways level.
See, some shall come from  afar,
Others from the north and the west….
Sing out, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth,
Break forth into song, you mountains.
For the Lord comforts his people
And shows mercy to his afflicted.

 As I meditated upon this passage, the thought came to me that the “bare height” where our pasture shall be is heaven itself, that God, who pities us, leads us to this Promised Land, cutting through the mountains of our lives, leveling the highways.  “See, some [come into eternal life] from the mud slides in the State of Washington, others from the watery grave  where the Malaysian plane’s  tragedy occurred, others from the devastating 8.2 earthquake off the coast of Chile.  So, too, does God remember those who die by the violent hand of another, those who  suffer because of a terminal illness, an ugly divorce, a domestic dispute. God knows and cares about all who suffer the brutal ravages of a war, all who are the target of ethnic cleansing, who are bullied because they are different from those who abuse them.      “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you,”  God tells us, no matter how much it seems otherwise. 

 “I do believe, Lord, help my unbelief” (Mk 9:24).

Revealing our Wisdom and our Intelligence

In today’s first reading, Dt. 4: 5-9, Moses is instructing the people to observe God’s commandments, His statues and decrees “that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your…[ancestors], is giving you….Observe them carefully, for thus you will give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations. In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that He has come to fulfill the law, not to destroy it.  Jesus, who carries out the spirit of the Law, challenges us to more than the externals of the law.  Jesus teaches that fulfilling the law means loving one’s neighbor as oneself, responding to  persons “left to die” by the side of our “roads” even when that means breaking a letter of the law in some way;  or choosing to be authentic when others  fear disapproval of their “friends”.   It means giving two tunics and turning the cheek when charity invites us to give of the more, not just what the letter of the law requires. It means withholding “throwing the first stone” when others are caught in serious sin, though the law has certainly been violated.  If we keep the commandments, Jesus promises,  we will have life and have it to the full. That is why He has come to this earth. That is why he will gave His life for our ransom. He wants to enter the Promised Land, to take full possession of ourselves, to know wisdom and to be intelligent in how we live our lives.

Do people, we might ask ourselves,  perceive us as “wise and intelligent” or do we simply blend in with the majority of folks who are swept away by the demands of the world, of secularism, materialism, consumerism, hedonism and all the other false gods of this world.  Are we persons who simply take the easy way out by following the crowd wherever it goes? “Everyone is doing it!” “What’s the big deal—no one else observes the commandments.” “Aren’t those outdated,” we might ask when reminded to refrain from sexual intercourse outside of marriage, when challenged to be honest in our dealings with others, when reminded to keep holy the Lord’s day and so on.

How wise and intelligent are we?