Rabbi, you are the Son of God,
you are the King of Israel. JN 1:49
NUMBERS 12:1-13
My Soul's Beloved,
My heart trembles for those who freely criticize Your anointed, Your consecrated Vicar of Christ, as well as Your consecrated men who have been called by You, set apart by You, to serve Your flock. How do they dare, Beloved? The prudent thing to do is to leave all judgment to You, who are the righteous and only judge, appointed by God. What we are called to do is to pray and fast for our Holy Father, as well as the Bishops and priests.
Miriam and Aaron dared to speak against Moses, and God's holy wrath fell upon them. These spiritually and intellectually puny men and women use their platforms on social media to vilify the successors of Peter, the bishops and priests. They say the most vile things in their abject ignorance. They will not take the time to study the Church's doctrinal teachings deeply, the Church documents from every Council, and the Church Fathers, yet they dare to speak as if they know it all and pass judgment, leading the weak astray. It is bad that non-Catholics do this all the time, but for those who profess to be Catholics, it is an even greater scandal.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, grant to those of us who are privileged to be Catholics to have greater humility. To be more concerned with our own salvation. To weed out the darnel that thrives in us and to remove the log from our own eyes before we have the temerity to condemn those whom God Himself has called, anointed, consecrated, and set apart. If we do, let us be prepared to be struck as Miriam was with the dreaded disease of leprosy. The leprosy of the soul caused by mortal sins will consign us to hell eternally unless we repent of our folly and go to the very priests and bishops we have condemned for forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Miriam, and Aaron too, spoke against Moses in connexion with the Cushite woman he had taken. (For he had married a Cushite woman.) They said, ‘Has the Lord spoken to Moses only? Has he not spoken to us too?’
The Lord heard this. Now Moses was the most humble of men, the humblest man on earth. Suddenly, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron and Miriam, ‘Come, all three of you, to the Tent of Meeting.’ They went, all three of them, and the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the Tent. He called Aaron and Miriam and they both came forward. The Lord said, ‘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?’
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.
Aaron said to Moses: ‘Help me, my lord! Do not punish us for a sin committed in folly of which we are guilty. I entreat you, do not let her be like a monster, coming from its mother’s womb with flesh half corrupted.’
Moses cried to the Lord, ‘O God,’ he said, ‘please heal her, I beg you!’
PSALM 50(51):3-7,12-13
Have mercy on us, Lord, for we have sinned.
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.
Aaron said to Moses: ‘Help me, my lord! Do not punish us for a sin committed in folly of which we are guilty. I entreat you, do not let her be like a monster, coming from its mother’s womb with flesh half corrupted.’
Moses cried to the Lord, ‘O God,’ he said, ‘please heal her, I beg you!’
PSALM 50(51):3-7,12-13
Have mercy on us, Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offence.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.
My offences truly I know them;
my sin is always before me
Against you, you alone, have I sinned;
what is evil in your sight I have done.
That you may be justified when you give sentence
and be without reproach when you judge,
O see, in guilt I was born,
a sinner was I conceived.
A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.
In your compassion blot out my offence.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.
My offences truly I know them;
my sin is always before me
Against you, you alone, have I sinned;
what is evil in your sight I have done.
That you may be justified when you give sentence
and be without reproach when you judge,
O see, in guilt I was born,
a sinner was I conceived.
A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.
Have mercy on us, Lord, for we have sinned.
MATTHEW 14:22-36
My Soul's Beloved,
As long as we are in the Bark of St. Peter, despite that tsunami of evil that arrays itself against us, we will remain safe, for You, O Lord, have made a Covenant with Your Bride, the Church, whom You have grafted to Your own Body, that the gates of hell will never prevail against her. Lord Jesus Christ, the crowds come to You to receive something, and once they have obtained it, they leave. Only the disciples remain, for You have called us by name. We are Yours.
You plead for us at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us ceaselessly, just as You went up the hill by Yourself to pray after the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish. Even though Your physical presence is not with us, You are always one with us in the Holy Eucharist.
Let nothing frighten us, let nothing disturb our peace, let us always, at the height of the storm, repose serenely in the knowledge that You are with us and we will not perish. Grant, O Lord, that You will never have to say to us, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’
Lord Jesus Christ, while the whole of the non-Catholic world abuses us for our great reverence and veneration of holy men and women, beginning with our great love for Your Mama and ours, the Blessed Virgin Mary, there will always be, in every age, countless men, women, and children who will gather around You, press against You, reach out to touch even the hem of Your garments, through the Sacraments You instituted, and we will all be healed in whatever way we need to be healed, restored, and made whole in heart, mind, soul, body, and spirit.
Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he would send the crowds away. After sending the crowds away he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, while the boat, by now far out on the lake, was battling with a heavy sea, for there was a head-wind. In the fourth watch of the night he went towards them, walking on the lake, and when the disciples saw him walking on the lake they were terrified. ‘It is a ghost’ they said, and cried out in fear. But at once Jesus called out to them, saying, ‘Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.’ It was Peter who answered. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘if it is you, tell me to come to you across the water.’ ‘Come’ said Jesus. Then Peter got out of the boat and started walking towards Jesus across the water, but as soon as he felt the force of the wind, he took fright and began to sink. ‘Lord! Save me!’ he cried. Jesus put out his hand at once and held him. ‘Man of little faith,’ he said ‘why did you doubt?’ And as they got into the boat the wind dropped. The men in the boat bowed down before him and said, ‘Truly, you are the Son of God.’
Having made the crossing, they came to land at Gennesaret. When the local people recognised him they spread the news through the whole neighbourhood and took all that were sick to him, begging him just to let them touch the fringe of his cloak. And all those who touched it were completely cured.
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