Meeting Tent

Ex 33:7-11;34:5-9,28; Psalm 103  The Lord is kind and merciful; Mt 13:36-43

We continue our journey with Moses. 

In today's first reading we have an excerpt from chapter 33 and and excerpt from ch 34.  Chapter 33 deals with Moses entering the Tent of Meeting where as 34 deals with Moses on Mt. Sinai. 

There is a disjunct in the reading.  The excerpt from ch 33 ends with the words "Joshua, son of Nun, would not move out of the Tent" and then ch 34 picks up with "Moses stood there with the Lord."

Unfortunately we miss what happens in between.  In verse 33:12-22 is the conversation Moses has in the Tent of Meeting with God.  It is his prayer, his intimate dialogue, his communion with God.  It is a beautiful passage worth meditating on for us to understand prayer in our own lives. 

"Moses said to the Lord, "You, in deed, are telling me to lead this people on; but you  have not let me know whom you will send with me.  Yet, you have said, 'Yo are my intimate friend,' and 'You have found  favor with me.'  Now, If I have found favor with you, do let me know your ways so that in knowing you I may continue to find favor with you."

What a beautiful relationship, what a beautiful prayer on the lips of Moses for the heart of man.

custom made

Ex 32: 15-24, 30-34; Psalm 106 Give thanks to the Lord for HE is good; Mt 13:31-35

We have been reading the beautiful life of Moses the past few weeks.  We have seen him in different spots.  He reluctantly becomes leader of ISraelites upon God' s request.  In becoming a leader he desires Aaron to be the mouth piece.  He is hesitant and unwilling to embrace the gifts he has been given and the roll he is asked to participate.  

But today He steps up to the plate.  The incident with the golden calf seems to be the incident that helps him finally realize his role, not so much as leader but as mediator. 

With the custom made tablets in hand, Moses is transformed.  His fury overwhelms him, and he throws down the tablets and  smashes the golden calf. 

Moses then goes before God and he seeks forgiveness for the people and in doing so he is willing to be struck out of the book of life.  Moses is willing to accept death so that the people might live and be given a second chance.  

He finally embraces his role.  

We too, at times can be reluctant in embracing our role in this world.  We can be hesitant and find excuses.  But there comes a time when we must step up, embrace our identity, and God be praised

2 kings 4:42-44; Psalm 145 THe hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs; Ephesians 4:1-6; John 6:1-15

Two things come to mind as I ponder these readings especially the second reading where St. Paul invites us to "live in a manner worthy of the call you have received."

One:

How many of us remember the words of John F. Kennedy in his inaugural address in 1961.

We may not remember everything, but we know bits and pieces, most famously of course, "and so fellow Americans, "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

These words have echoed in various places and times over the past 48 years since they were first spoken. 

Prior to this particular passage, John F. Kennedy stated something else, I find more striking.  In the beginning of his speech, after greeting all the dignitaries he states this, "we dare not forget today that we are heirs of the first revolution...and the torch has been passed to a new generation."  

We are heirs of the first revolution!

This is what St. Paul is telling the Christians community in Ephesus.  St. Paul is in prison, bound and chains, and drawing to the end of his life.  He is on his way out.  He is about to be executed; he is about to lose his head because the world had lost its mind. 

These are some of his last words to the Christians.  He is trying to encourage them, untie them, and spur them on.  He wants then to raise the standard of Christ and bear it fruitfully; he is passing on the torch. 

He is saying, "ask not what God can do for you, but what you can do for God."

Second point. 

Today as I woke from sleep, I spied across my bedroom the crucifix on the wall.  It is the only  thing I have hanging on my wall in the my bedroom, besides a clock that doesn't  work, that perpetually reads 5:50. 

The crucifix is the last thing I see before I go sleep and the first thing I welcome when I awake. 

This morning I was struck by the crucifix, though not literally.  The meaning of the crucifix struck me.  What does it mean, Jesus hanging on the tree.  Immediately we think, salvation and redemption.  I believe most of us believers are pro redemption, pro salvation.  I have never seen a protester, though by our sins we protest.

But for the most part, we are pro salvation. But on another note, the crucifixion is God's answer of yes to a history of no's.  It is God's answer to Adam and Eve's fall; it is God's answer to the devil's rebellion.  The crucifixion is a revolution.  

On the cross, Heaven rebels against hell.  As believers, we are heirs of this revolution.  This is the call we have received, this is the call St. Paul urges us to embrace.

We are called to stand with Christ and fight the good fight.

As we raise the standard of Christ, upon our lips is pressed our battle cry, "on earth as it is  in heaven."

Thus, we live in a manner worthy of the call; let heaven rebel and the earth rejoice with those who choose to stand with the cross.

Lest we forget we are heirs...lest we are forgotten.

leave no doubt

yesterday we celebrated the memorial of St. Sharbel Mahkluf.  

He was a Lebanese priest and became a hermit.  Wow!

Usually, when we think of hermits, we think of strange and bizarre men and women who abandon the world and enter into deserter places to focus completely on themselves and God. 

And, in deed Hermits are strangely beautiful persons who have a profound message for us. 

By their life choices and actions, in renouncing the world, they are sign for us and against us. They heard the words of Christ, "You, are lacking one thing, go sell all that you have, give to the poor, and come follow me, and you will have treasure in heaven." They hear and obey.

The hermit is the one who leaves no doubt about their association with Christ, because they choose not just to be associated with him but they choose to be committed to him completely.  

Thus, they remind us in our life filled with many things, that perhaps we are still lacking something.  Perhaps, we still have room to grow, and this is necessary for our spiritual awakening and conversion.  The recognition that we are missing something spurs us on to seek the one who seeks us.

The hermit stands against the world and for the world as a sign of contradiction.  They hate the world so much they want to change it; they love the world so much they think it worthy of change.  They make the change possibly by getting us to look again at ourselves. Here in lies the message of the Hermit. 

Is this not the message of Christ himself, who comes to set the world a blaze, hating it to change it, loving it to think it worthy of change.  As He tells us, " I have come to make all things new."  A new heaven and a new earth, the book of revelation points toward in the fulfillment of the kingdom to come.

May we embrace the Hermit and leave no doubt and truly make the change happen.

Deserter

Ex 19:1-2, 9-11, 16-20; Psalm Glory and praise forever Dn 3; Mt 13:10-17

We continue today our journey with John Vianney. 

When John was in his early 20's he confided to his mother that he wanted to be a priest.  She was excited but his father, however, did not think it was a good idea. 

They needed John to stay at home and help on the farm.  Things were tight and his father did not think they could afford to lose John's ability and strength and service. 

Also, it was expensive and the Vianney family did not have the money to send their son to school. 

After some insistence on his mother's part John Vianney was allowed to study under the a local pastor. 

When he turned 24, in the midst of his studies, John Vianney was drafted into the army, in 1809.  France went to war with Spain and Napoleon needed young men to help wage his battles. 

John Vianney was devastated to say the least.  Yet, he went.  While there, he was sickened by the vulgarity of the soldiers, so much so that he got sick and was hospitalized for 6 weeks. 

After he was released he was sent to catch up with his unit.  On the way he got turned around and winded up get caught up with a young man who was a deserted. 

This young man convinced John Vianney to join him and numerous other young men who had also deserted the army.  So he hid for the next two years. He was a deserter. 

In this little town, in the middle of the woods, John Vianney made a home and took an alias; he was known as Jerome Vincent. 

He spent some time living in a stable before one of the towns folk took him in. 

He had to always be on alert.  At one point, he was hiding in the barn beneath some hay when the authorities raided the place looking for deserters. 

He nearly suffocated to death and one of the soldiers, as he poked the hay with his sword poked him in the process.  Later, he spoke of the occasion as the worst suffering he ever endured. 

While hiding, he made a vow he would never again complain to God about anything.  And he kept his vow until he died some 50 years later. 

After two years of hiding out, the war was not nearly as fierce and a reprieve was granted to deserters.  John Vianney was reunited with his family.  His younger brother, decided to take John's place in the military.  Thus, John was freed to continue his studies. 

John Vianney's brother, once he took John's place, was never heard of again. 

Shortly after John's return, his mother died at the young age of 58.  

He, however, managed to continue his studies for the priesthood. 

John Vianney reflecting on his experience as a deserter stated that "as a defaulter, he was ever afraid of the authorities.  In a like manner the sinner, because of the reproaches of his conscience, fears at every moment lest he be overtaken by divine justice."

In all, he always looked upon the circumstances of his life as providential, as God's hand leading him through, all the while teaching him new lessons.  He believed that in his life and circumstances, Jesus continued tot each him in parables.  That his entire life became a parable filled with deeper meaning and an ever abiding presence of God. 

 He trusted God's vision not his own.  

just enough

Exodus 16: 1-15; Psalm 78 The Lord gave them bread from heaven; John 20:1-2, 11-18

Today we read the story of the desert wanderings of the Israelites.  They were grumpy.  Talk about hard to please.  They had just witness the greatest act of victory known to man, where Pharaoh's army was thrown into the sea; they had escaped slavery relatively unscathed; they didn't even break a sweat.  All they had to do was watch God unfold his victory before them.

They were led through the desert by a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.  

They had every reason to be in awe, enthusiastic, completely blown away.  They had seen enough amazing things to last a life time; and yet they were grumpy and unsatisfied. 

Go figure!

Instead of focusing on what went right, what beauty they saw before their eyes, what amazing events that took place, all they could see was what was missing.  A 1000 reasons to rejoice and they settle on the one reason to be grumpy. 

Go figure!

And Yet God in His infinite mercy gives them another reason to be blown away, in awe.

He sends the quail by night and the bread by day.   Why?  So that they "might know that I, the Lord, am your God."

He gives them direct evidence of his ever abiding presence, the best evidence.  He passes judgment, gives adjudication on his mercy.

The key to the manna, the bread God sends like rain, was that the Israelites were told that they could only take just enough for the day, only a daily portion.  He gave them just enough, each day. 

This is how God continually gives and proves himself; he gives us just enough.  We may see a 1000 things we do not have, or a 1000 reasons why we need more but what God simply asks us to remember is, "do have just enough?"

Just enough for the day! 

We may not have everything we want, but do we have just enough?

If we were asked to give an affidavit in the court of law, I believe each of us could testify that in deed we do have just enough each day.  This is proof enough to get God off the hook, give Him the acquittal He deserves, for the evidence is in His favor, without a reasonable doubt, He has done what He has promised and provides us with just enough, our daily portion. 

God isn't on trial, we are.  The problem isn't God's provisions but rather our expectations.  

When we become believers, we have to embrace the assumption of risk, that is we know the danger of believing that is God promises to give us just enough for the day, not too much, not too little, but always just enough. 

We just have recognize the manna set before us, and truly our desires shall be satisfied.

Today, we ask, what is it that is just enough.  Truly, we see then the manna from above.

Hey porter

Exodus 3:13-20; Psalm 105 The Lord remembers his covenant for ever; Matthew 11:28-30;

Today in the universal church we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.  The feast dates all the way back to the 14th century, where the Blessed Mother appeared to St. Simon Stock and gave him the Brown Scapular.  

The Brown Scapular is a devotion to the Blessed Mother, where the wearer devotes himself to the service of the Blessed Virgin by seeking to imitate her virtues to God, in saying yes to his will. 

It focuses on two aspects: Mary's spiritual maternity of the faithful and her role as mediator of grace.  Mary promises to aid the believer in the grace of final perseverance and happy death.  

Two requirements are necessary for this devotion: one must honor the Blessed Mother and live a faithful Christian life.

St. John Vianney had a deep devotion to the Blessed Mother.  He states in his little catechism 

"the  Ave Maria is a prayer that is never wearisome.  The devotion to the Holy Virgin is delicious, sweet, nourishing.  When we talk of earthly  subjects we grow weary; but when we talk of the Holy VIrgin, it is always new.  All saints have a great devotion to Our Lady; no grace comes from Heaven without passing through her hands.  we cannot go into the house without speaking to the porter; well, the Holy Virgin is the portress of Heaven."   

St. John Vianney pray for us