Let your face shine on your servant,
and teach me your decrees. PS 118:135
and teach me your decrees. PS 118:135
JOSHUA 3:7-11,13-17
My Soul's Beloved,
Just as God provided a good, holy, strong, and able leader, Joshua, after Moses so too, Lord, You have ensured that in the Church we will always have a visible head, the successor to Peter, to lead us. You have given us Your guarantee that on matters of faith and morals, the Holy Father, with the Bishops, will never teach error, or depart from the Way of Truth and Life in matters concerning faith and morals. This is why, even if we do not understand, we can trust Holy Mother Church implicitly and obey her teachings and doctrines.
No one but the priests could touch the Ark of the Covenant except the priests for it was holy. It contained the manna, the staff of Aaron, and the Law which represent You, Beloved, who are the Bread of Life, the High Priest, and the Word of the Father. During the nine months that Mary conceived You and carried You in her womb, she became the new Ark of the Covenant, for she held within her body and forever in her heart, mind, and soul, the Bread of Life, the High Priest, and the Eternal Word.
The Ark went ahead of God's people; the power of God made a way for them to cross the Jordan on dry ground just as when they crossed the Red Sea. When we appeal to Mary, Your Virgin Mother, Beloved, it is Your power at work in her that makes the most wonderful miracles happen. She asks on our behalf, and You respond affirmatively always. She, whose whole life was a prolonged, 'Yes' to God, can now always hear God say, 'Yes' to whatever she asks on behalf of all her wayward children. We belong to her as her adopted children, for it is You, O Lord, with Your dying breath, who entrusted us to her loving, maternal care. We can trust her intercession with You to lead us safely through all the vicissitudes of this present life, to our eternal home in the Kingdom of her Son.
Thank You, Beloved, for giving us such a loving and exemplary Mom whose intercession for us at Your right hand, as mediatrix of all graces, will always be heard and answered favorably.
The Lord said to Joshua, ‘This very day I will begin to make you a great man in the eyes of all Israel, to let them be sure that I am going to be with you even as I was with Moses. As for you, give this order to the priests carrying the ark of the covenant: “When you have reached the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you are to stand still in the Jordan itself”.’ Then Joshua said to the Israelites, ‘Come closer and hear the words of the Lord your God.’ Joshua said, ‘By this you shall know that a living God is with you and without a doubt will expel the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite and the Jebusite. Look, the ark of the Lord, the Lord of the whole earth, is about to cross the Jordan at your head. As soon as the priests with the ark of the Lord, the Lord of the whole earth, have set their feet in the waters of the Jordan, the upper waters of the Jordan flowing down will be stopped in their course and stand still in one mass.’
Accordingly, when the people struck camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant in front of the people. As soon as the bearers of the ark reached the Jordan and the feet of the priests who carried it touched the waters (the Jordan overflows the whole length of its banks throughout the harvest season) the upper waters stood still and made one heap over a wide space – from Adam to the fortress of Zarethan – while those flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah, that is, the Salt Sea, stopped running altogether. The people crossed opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood still on dry ground in mid-Jordan, and all Israel continued to cross dry-shod till the whole nation had finished its crossing of the river.
PSALM 113A(114):1-6
Alleluia!
When Israel came forth from Egypt,
Jacob’s sons from an alien people,
Judah became the Lord’s temple,
Israel became his kingdom.
Jacob’s sons from an alien people,
Judah became the Lord’s temple,
Israel became his kingdom.
The sea fled at the sight:
the Jordan turned back on its course,
the mountains leapt like rams
and the hills like yearling sheep.
the Jordan turned back on its course,
the mountains leapt like rams
and the hills like yearling sheep.
Why was it, sea, that you fled,
that you turned back, Jordan, on your course?
Mountains, that you leapt like rams,
hills, like yearling sheep?
that you turned back, Jordan, on your course?
Mountains, that you leapt like rams,
hills, like yearling sheep?
Alleluia!
MATTHEW 18:21-19:1
My Soul's Beloved,
My Soul's Beloved,
When Peter put the question to You, "Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?" He thought he was being really generous and expected You to praise him for his willingness to forgive wrongs done repeatedly, seven times. Not so, You tell him, and You go on to tell the disciples the parable of the servant who owed his master a debt of ten thousand talents. His debt was so great that there was no way he could ever repay it. After giving him sufficient time to do so, the master summoned him and demanded that he pay what he owed, and since he obviously could not, he threatened to sell him as well as his wife and children, as well as all he possessed, to recover what his servant owed him. He threw himself at his master's feet and begged for more time, promising that he would pay all he owed. Moved with pity, his master forgave him the entire debt. But immediately on leaving his master's presence, he met a fellow servant who owed him a small debt. He caught him by the scruff of his neck and demanded immediate payment. When the poor man fell at his feet and implored for more time, just as he had done with his master, he refused and had him imprisoned instead.
The outraged servants reported to their master how wickedly this man had behaved despite being himself forgiven the entire debt he owed, and the master became furious saying,'“You wicked servant, I cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed to me. Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you?” And in his anger the master handed him over to the torturers till he should pay all his debt.”'
This parable reveals the heart and mind of God. We have all been forgiven much, and we, in turn, are required to forgive our brothers and sisters always. God's word makes it clear to us that it is in the measure that we forgive that we will be forgiven.
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