Rabbi, you are the Son of God,
you are the King of Israel. JN 1:49
NUMBERS 12:1-13 ©
My Soul's Beloved,
Whenever I read or hear people including priests and bishops who surely ought to know better, speak against the Vicar of Christ, and malign him and his name without impunity I shudder at their daring to do so. There will be grave consequences for those who are in the habit of attributing all kinds of heresies to him and even calling him anti-pope. God's anger will blaze against them as it blazed against Miriam and Aaron when they dared to speak against His anointed servant Moses.
The Holy Father is Your Vicar on earth, it is You who have placed him as the visible head of Your Church, Your Body, Your Bride and he is answerable to You and to You alone. To You O Lord, he is like Moses, ‘Listen now to my words: If any man among you is a prophet I make myself known to him in a vision, I speak to him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses: he is at home in my house; I speak with him face to face, plainly and not in riddles, and he sees the form of the Lord. How then have you dared to speak against my servant Moses?’ This is why anyone and most especially bishops and priests who sow seeds of division, and doubt, and miss no opportunity to make uncharitable observations about him are agents of the devil whose principal aim is to divide and conquer. God's anger will blaze against them and they will be punished as Miriam was punished. The anger of the Lord blazed out against them. He departed, and as soon as the cloud withdrew from the Tent, there was Miriam a leper, white as snow! Aaron turned to look at her; she had become a leper.
Instead, when we are honestly confused let us bring it to You humbly in prayer and pray for our Holy Father as well as our priests, bishops, and all those in the Church's hierarchy who have some measure of power and influence.
It is better to be humble and obedient than to arrogantly and hastily pass judgment when there is only one righteous judge appointed by the Father. Let us not usurp Your place O Lord lest, like Miriam and Aaron, we feel the heat of Your blazing anger for our temerity in doing so.
MATTHEW 14:22-36 ©
My Soul's Beloved,
After the excitement of the miraculous multiplication of the loaves, the euphoric crowd was full of praise and adulation for You and Your disciples and lest they become too elated You made them get into the boat and go on ahead of You to the other side. It is a human weakness to get so carried away with the gifts that we totally forget the Giver. Too often we mistakenly think we are deserving of Your blessings attributing to ourselves virtues we most surely lack. It is Your goodness alone and Your love that heaps upon us undeserving creatures the many gifts You lavish on us.
You remained behind to disperse the crowds who would have otherwise lingered there instead of returning to their homes and then You went up into the hills alone to pray. We too need to detach ourselves from people, from distractions, and to meet You alone in prayer. Our spirits must ascend up the mountain to You while You, Beloved, stoop low to us.
It is only through prayer and through a life lived in intimate communion with You that we can weather the storms that continually come up in life, often catching us unawares and whipping up fear, anxiety, and doubt in us. For a moment we might forget that You are Emmanuel, God with us, and we might be overwhelmed and terrified for a moment. But when we allow faith to take over we will see You, we will experience Your Presence and we will hear You say to us as You said to Peter,
‘Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.’ With You beside us, with our hand in Yours, we too can walk on water and as long as we keep our focus on You we will not sink. But even if we like Peter begin to focus on the winds and the waves and we begin to sink and we cry out to You, ‘Lord! Save me!’ You will put out Your hand at once, chide me tenderly for my little faith he cried. Jesus put out his hand at once and held him. ‘Man of little faith,’ and bring me into the boat and to safety. I in turn, like Peter and the disciples will bow down and worship You and exclaim with them. ‘Truly, you are the Son of God.’
Thank You, Beloved, for never sending us away but always showing tender mercy and compassion as You showed the crowds who followed You and were waiting for You at Gennesaret. May we who know You evangelize like the local people who recognized You did and spread the news through the whole neighborhood and like them let us bring all our sick to You begging You to just let us touch the fringer of Your cloak and all who touch it will be completely cured.
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