The BreadCast

(Ruth 2:1-3,8-11,4:13-17;   Ps.128:1-5;   Mt.23:1-12) “The greatest among you will be the one who serves the rest.” Today we can contrast the faith of Ruth with the Pharisees’ of Jesus’ time.  In our first reading, Ruth says to her mother-in-law Naomi, “Let me go and glean ears of grain in the field of anyone who will allow me that favor.”  She puts herself at ready service in all humility, despite the potential dangers that come with being a foreign woman working in a place dominated by men who may not have the greatest of respect for women in general and especially for her.  In contrast, in our gospel Jesus says of the Pharisees, “They bind up heavy loads, hard to carry, to lay on other men’s shoulders, while they themselves will not lift a finger to budge them.”  These Pharisees have no heart for service; they are sooner the oppressors of the poor and vulnerable, and are rather concerned for “places of honor at banquets” and “marks of respect in public” than the needs of others.  How stark the contrast is between she who serves and those who are inflated with pride. And how true are Jesus’ words: “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, but whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.”  Indeed, God’s providential hand watches over Ruth as she gleans in the field that “happened to be the section belonging to Boaz of the clan of Elimalech,” her father-in-law, and so a close kinsman.  Not only does Boaz make provision for her safe and fruitful gleaning of his fields – instructing his young men to do her “no harm” and indeed to leave food behind that it will be easy for her to gather – but he seeks diligently to take her to wife… and through their union she (and Naomi) is blessed with a son who will be grandfather to King David.  But what of these Pharisees and their vanity?  From them Jesus will take the keys of the kingdom, the teaching authority on earth which they so misuse for their own gain, and give it to others as He builds His Church on Peter and the apostles.  And so today we hold up Ruth as a model of faith, while these dead men’s bones which walked the earth in whitewashed tombs now find their home rotting in the grave.  “You shall eat the fruit of your handiwork,” our psalm proclaims.  Those like Ruth who “fear the Lord, who walk in His ways… shall be like a fruitful vine” and their “children like olive plants around” their table.  However, those inflated with pride, serving no one but themselves, shall come to naught.  Let us heed our Lord’s warning today not to exalt ourselves in any work we do, but rather set our hearts on serving others.  Then we shall truly be fruitful, for then we shall know the fruits of heaven. ******* O LORD, you bless all those who fear you, who are humble before you. YHWH, make us humble before you and before others, ever willing to serve in your NAME.  Then we shall be blessed.  Then we shall find our place in your kingdom.  For then we shall be fruitful and our fruits shall raise us to you. Anyone to whom you lead us, let us serve, dear LORD.  Guide our steps to the field where we shall glean grain for food that will sustain us all our days.  You alone are our nourishment, and fed by your hand we shall have abundance. But if into pride we fall, exalting ourselves above others, assuming the place reserved for you and your Son, how we shall be cast down!  Our hearts and our hands will be empty as our deeds: our vanity will spell our end.  No fruit of any worth shall we bear, and so our souls shall starve for want of love.  O LORD, let us be truly humble!  Let us be like you.

(Ruth 1:1,3-6,14-16,22;   Ps.146:2,5-10;   Mt.22:34-40)   “Wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge, your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”   How well our readings harmonize this day.  Jesus speaks plainly to the keepers of the law the greatest commandments – total love of God and neighbor – and Ruth puts them into practice for our witness.  And our psalm sings the praises of our great God of love, whose care for “the hungry” and “the strangers,” “the fatherless and the widow,” we are called to imitate.  Alleluia, indeed. Ruth is a foreigner, from a land which follows other gods; yet she is willing to leave “her people and her god” to follow Naomi and the living and true God unreservedly.  Oh how this mirrors all our call to leave all of this world behind and follow the Lord and His way.  Oh that we had the courage and faith of this Moabite woman who will become the great-grandmother of King David.  How well this illustrates God’s call and blessing to any and all who seek Him, who long to walk in His steps.  And how well His way of compassion and love is shown in His care for this widow Naomi, who came to Moab hungry and leaves now to return to Israel with this blessed daughter-in-law to be with her and serve her without restraint. The words of the Lord are so true: “Love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul, and with all your mind,” and “love your neighbor as yourself.”  They silence even the hardest of hearts with their radiance.  We know that God is love, that through His help we find blessing – that His concern for all those in need extends “through all generations” – and we know that we should be like Him… but how often we fail to practice Ruth’s resolve. This day let us cast off our reservations, brothers and sisters, and cast ourselves upon the love and grace of the Lord.  Let us resolve never to “abandon or forsake” Him.  Knowing clearly the love of God which comes from the lips of our own Lord of love and our blessed psalmist, and which is embodied by Ruth’s profession of faith and commitment to love, let us vow in this spirit to return the Lord’s boundless love, for in loving we become like Him whom we love and so stand with Him who “shall reign forever” in the eternal kingdom of light and love.  Again I say, now is the acceptable time; today is the day of salvation.  Follow Him unreservedly.   ******* O LORD, may we increase in purity daily, for the hour of your Son’s coming is nigh and we must be ready to become His bride.  YHWH, help us to trust entirely in you, to love you with all our heart, and our neighbors as ourselves.  Help us to leave behind our people and anything that keeps us from you.  To you and to your love let us come, and with you make our home. You provide, O LORD, for all those in need, for the widow and the orphan, and the stranger who draws close to you.  You make no distinction among people: it is those of faith who are acceptable to you and whom you bless.  Those of faith who reflect your great love become as your sons and daughters; these are wed to you. O let us never abandon or forsake you, LORD!  Let us go wherever you lead, and make your people our people.  With you and with those who follow you let us stay and remain, and we shall dwell securely in your love.  You are our only hope – reign over us forever.

(Jgs.11:29-39;   Ps.40:5,7-10;   Mt.22:1-14)   “You have made a vow to the Lord. Do with me as you have vowed.”   As with the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is blessed not so much for giving birth to Jesus – or consecrating herself to God as a virgin – as for hearing and doing the word of God, being the handmaiden of the Lord extraordinaire… so the Lord delights not in “sacrifice and oblation,” per se, but in “ears open to obedience.”  In accepting the sacrifice of her fertility (the greatest sacrifice a woman could make, though it may be difficult to realize in these days of abortion and contraception), Jephthah’s daughter demonstrates the obedience required of all the redeemed. “Happy the man who makes the Lord his trust; who turns not to idolatry or to those who stray after falsehood,” David proclaims in our psalm today.  “The spirit of the Lord” upon him, Jephthah defeats severely the Ammonites, a nation which practiced the sacrifice of their children to their god, Molech.  The Lord thus shows disdain for them and their ways.  Thus also it should be evident that Jephthah would not do in the spirit of the Lord that which is directly opposed to His will.  The sacrifice of Jephthah’s daughter is of her fertility – it is her virginity she mourns and not her death.  And Jephthah maintains his vow by consecrating her wholly to God, knowing that his generation will cease, since he has no other sons and daughters to bear his name, and thus making a great sacrifice himself.  If it were her life itself he offers God, he would be no better than those he destroyed and certainly no son of Abraham, who was taught the truth against such sacrifice so many years before. This aside, we turn to our gospel.  It is clear that Jesus is telling the chief priests and elders of the people that they do not have the obedience required of the redeemed.  “In the written scroll it is prescribed” that all must do the will of God, but these who know the Scriptures so well, know nothing of them at all… and so the Word goes out to draw the whole world into the kingdom prepared by God.  But to these, too, Jesus has a warning: “The invited are many, the elect are few.”  If we are “not properly dressed for a wedding feast,” if we have not aligned our lives with the will of God, we too shall be thrown “out into the night” with the man who had to “wail and grind his teeth.”  And this wailing shall not come as holy sacrifice unto the ears of God; it shall not demonstrate our obedience to Him, but rather be the inflicting of judgment upon our souls. Let us be obedient to the will of God in all things, brothers and sisters.  Let us hear His voice alone and follow where it leads.   ******* O LORD, let us offer ourselves as a holocaust to you; then we will be fit to enter your presence.  YHWH, how shall we give true worship to you and offer you the sacrifice you are due?  Only complete obedience to your will shall bring us into your presence; it is our very lives you desire of us.  For you know that only this will make us joyful – only union with you and your Son will fulfill the longing of our hearts. To your wedding feast let us come, O LORD, and there let us remain, ever praising your glory with full voice, happy to be among those you have saved.  And so, in purity let us come, single-hearted let us be, and we shall not be cast out into the night but live in your holy light. Your Spirit you send upon those who call upon you, who devote themselves to your will.  Let us fulfill our vows to you, LORD; let us turn from all idols and trust in you alone, and we shall be blessed forever in your House.

(Jgs.9:6-15;   Ps.21:2-7;   Mt.20:1-16)   “The last shall be first and the first shall be last.”   Jesus, the Son of God and true King, who is first, has made Himself last, and so for His humility will be exalted forever; Abimalech, rebellious son of Gideon, who is least of all his brothers, has made himself first, and so will be humbled for his vain pride. In our first reading Jotham curses his brother Abimalech from the mountaintop as this least of the trees is anointed king after having murdered all other of his brothers.  (There were seventy sons of the judge Gideon – who himself refused kingship.)  The people of Shechem have fallen by pride in this son of their own city and so they, too, are cursed for taking refuge in his dark shadow.  Abimalech’s thorns shall pierce them and shall prove a bitter medicine of purgation for these wayward Israelites.  They shall indeed be the death of one another. In contrast to this false king, in David’s psalm we hear of the blessings the true king receives from God, in whom he rejoices and to whom he gives all glory for victory:  “O Lord, in your strength the king is glad.”  It is not by his own will that this king reigns, but by the will of the Father, and so his place is assured and he is exalted and made “a blessing forever.”  David, too, was the least of his brothers, but unlike Abimalech, who took matters into his own jealous and bloody hands, he trusted always in the Lord and humbled himself before the God of all, and so, “great is his glory in [the Lord’s] victory.” And, of course, we know that it is the Son of David, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords: in Him is the blessed kingship of God fulfilled.  And, of course, it is His great humility which has made Him so exalted.  Did He not take the crown of thorns upon His head?  Was He not pierced by the pride of man’s rebellion?  Did He not accept the bitter wine as He died upon the cross?  And so should not all trees bow down to this sanctifying tree, this true vine?  Is it not by the fruit of this buckthorn that we are purged from our sins against Him who is Most High?  He who has been raised on the cross is indeed King of us all, and all others mere pretenders.  Brothers and sisters, it is only in Christ and in the shadow of the tree that is the cross that we shall find blessing, that we shall find glory, that we shall be exalted and receive “a crown of pure gold.”  Follow no other, for false gods abound and their fall is great.  Toil only in the vineyard of the Lord and regardless of the length or breadth of your labor you shall receive your recompense, which is oneness with Him who is eternal and whose generous reign knows no bounds.  And be not envious of others’ entering in if it is you who must toil long – your service of God should be your joy and a source of great humility.  ******* O LORD, those who are least in the eyes of the world are first in your eyes, for you love all souls, but despise sin. YHWH, you have sent us a great King, before whom all others must bow, in whose light all other reigns pale.  For He is the only true King, the only King whose reign endures.  And only in Him is true justice; and only in Him is true charity.  Only in Jesus will all be cared for, will all be united with you. Let us serve your Son well, dear LORD.  Let us enter His vineyard and do the work set before us by His gracious concern.  He seeks to draw us into His realm that we might be blessed by Him; let us not be idle or jealous of His goodness toward all, but treasure every hour we toil in His presence. There are false gods enough to lead any soul astray, but only you are LORD and only on your Son do your majesty and splendor rest.  Let us take our refuge, Father, in the shadow of His Cross.

(Jgs.6:11-24;   Ps.85:9,11-14;   Mt.19:23-30)   “Go with the strength you have and save Israel from the power of Midian.  It is I who send you.”   The world is at enmity with God.  The kingdom of heaven is not as the kingdom of this earth, thus Jesus tells us that “the last shall come first.”  For though we pray the Lord’s kingdom come now to this earth, it shall not be fulfilled until “the new age when the Son of Man takes His seat upon a throne befitting His glory.”  We must therefore not judge with the mind of the world but continually struggle against it and its power. In our gospel Jesus calls the apostles to give up all things for the sake of the kingdom.  As He instructs them of the danger of the riches of this world, they are “completely overwhelmed.”  Judging with an earthly mind, they think riches should be of assistance; but the Lord wishes to teach them of the mind of God, upon which the world is set in opposition.  The apostles indeed “have put everything aside to follow” Jesus, and for this they shall receive their reward.  But their only reward on this earth will be persecution; it is in heaven their glory shall come. Yes, the Lord “proclaims peace to His people” and “justice shall walk before Him, and salvation, along the way of His steps”; and though the Lord blesses and guides us in our fight against evil now – imparting to us a share of His Spirit – yet we know “His benefits” shall only be fulfilled in heaven; this is the land which “shall yield its increase.”  As in our first reading the meat and cakes of Gideon are laid upon a rock, not consumed by the mouth for the sake of the belly but consumed by the fire of the Lord to feed his faith, so it is that the Lord and His angels and all those who follow Him are of the Spirit and not the flesh.  And so it is that the Lord chooses those who are least in the eyes of the world, as is Gideon: “My family is the meanest in Manassah, and I am the most insignificant in my father’s house,”  and places His power upon them, to show us not only that “for God all things are possible,” but more so to instruct us not to put faith in the passing things of this world but in the eternal “justice and peace” of His heavenly kingdom. We must indeed struggle continually against this world and its power with the strength God gives us, brothers and sisters.  In the riches of this life we must never take our ease.  For these are set in opposition to God in enmity.  God is Spirit and we must be as He is, taking our places in His heavenly glory with the apostles who have laid down their lives and so now judge in righteousness with Jesus the king.  Go forth now in His Name.   ******** O LORD, let us follow in the way you mark out for us, and we will be blessed. YHWH, you come to those who are lowly, who place their trust in you.  Those who set their hearts on you and give up the things of this world will be blessed in your kingdom.  Call us forth in your NAME to do your will, O LORD.  Without you, we are nothing, the meanest creatures on this earth.  But with the strength that comes from you, we can conquer all our enemies.  It is from you all blessings come; only through you will our land yield its increase, will we be fruitful here and in Heaven. Why should we desire the riches of this world when you are the only treasure worthy of our time, when it is only your glory that passes not away?  O LORD, accept the offering of our lives.  Increase our faith in your protection, in the angel you send to call us to you, and we shall live ever in your peace.

(Jgs.2:11-19;   Ps.106:4,34-37,39-40,43-44;   Mt.19:16-22)  “They were quick to stray from the way their fathers had taken, and did not follow their example of obedience to the commandments of the Lord.” It is not long before the Israelites break their vows to the Lord, mingling with other nations and worshiping their idols.  As soon as the generation which has known Joshua dies out, their children begin to stray.  And though the Lord “raised up judges to deliver them from the power of their despoilers,” to save them from their enemies when He heard their cry of affliction, repeatedly “when the judge died, they would relapse and do worse.”  Thus it shall also be with the interminable series of good and evil kings which shall lead to their exile, and thus the necessity of the eternal King, Jesus Christ, under whose reign there is no faltering backward – for He lives forever to intercede. So evil had the Israelites become that they “sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.”  And one must ask, should the Lord God not punish such deeds?  Does He not hold justice in His right hand?  Should such action be allowed to transpire?  Although the Lord holds compassion in His left hand and always has regard for our affliction when we cry out to Him, He does not, He cannot, allow sin to go unpunished.  If He did so it would but grow more grave and the peril to the soul would be greater, and thus He would fail in compassion not only to the victims of oppression but to the soul of the oppressor. How difficult this is to hear in the materialistic age in which we dwell, where the body is king and possessions take the place of the spirit.  How like the young man in our gospel many are when they hear the call to perfection, when they are challenged to give up their possessions, for our souls have become one with our material wealth, and to lose it we think spells death.  But it is not death but life to which Jesus calls us, life in the Spirit, which is life itself.  And whether we own things or not we must not own them; we must know that all belongs to God, or we shall not belong to God but to the false idols of the nations around us and the death and defilement their evil practices bring.  For do we not today sacrifice our children on the altar of abortion in the name of ease and luxury. “There is One who is good.  If you wish to enter life, keep His commandments.”  If you wish for death, continue to stray. ******* O LORD, how shall we give ourselves entirely to you, you who alone love us? YHWH, save us from following the false gods that surround us and close in.  Easily we go astray without your shepherds to lead us.  May your Son be present to us this day in your Church that we might be kept from falling into the power of our enemies by the sins we commit. Why should we abandon you, LORD?  Why should we fall under the devil’s sway and give ourselves to the service of the empty things of this world?  Look upon our weakness.  Help us rather to abandon our passing possessions and put our trust in your unfading glory.  Help us keep to your Word and your way and find the goodness, the perfection, only you hold. Your Son calls us this day away from the vain pursuits of this corrupted place.  May we heed His voice and turn from the evil sacrifices of wanton nations to join ourselves to His Cross.

(Jos.24:14-29;   Ps.16:1-2,5,7-8,11;   Mt.19:13-15)   “We will serve the Lord, our God, and obey His voice.”   Like children we must come before the Lord and extol His holy Name.  “Completely and sincerely” we must serve Him and He will place His hands upon our heads and bless us.  And we will sing with David of the “fullness of joys in [His] presence, the delights at [His] right hand forever.”  We indeed will be as children, and He will be our God.  Listen to the words of Jesus: “Let the children come to me…  The kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”  Oh to know the blessing of being in the Lord’s presence forever! “My Lord are you.  Apart from you I have no good,” cries David to his God.  Indeed, how our psalm sings the praises of the Lord and the blessing of our refuge in Him.  How well it illustrates the fruit of the covenant the people enter into with God at Shechem under Joshua’s leadership.  The Promise having been fulfilled, Joshua calls the Israelites to renew their commitment to the Lord.  And though their fidelity to Him will only be for a short time and the stone set up shall soon be a witness against them, yet their vows are those we must all make in sincerity and in truth.  Obeying His voice is indeed our salvation.  As David sings, “I bless the Lord who counsels me; even in the night my heart exhorts me.”  The Lord is ever there for those who trust in Him, who give their lives to Him, who serve Him – who come to Him as a humble child in innocence and love.  What greater blessing can we know than to love the Lord who is “a holy God” and so become one with Him?  This is our “allotted portion,” this is our “cup” – this is the reign of God upon us to which we are called. “I set the Lord before me,” our psalm states, “with Him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.”  If we but set our hearts on Him, brothers and sisters, there can be nothing that will move us.  If we but take our vows in the Spirit of Truth, He will be ever with us.  Let us not be afraid.  Let us not be afraid that we will fall, that He will leave us.  Let us pursue Him with heart and soul; let us give our lives over to Him. To serve Him and to love Him is our blessed joy.  Let us be as children before Him and reap this joy unto life eternal.  Let our covenant with Him be written upon our hearts and evident in all our lives, and we shall stand in His presence forever.  Set aside all false gods; listen to His voice.  Alleluia!   ******* O LORD, may you be our God and we be your children!  YHWH, lay your hands upon our heads that we might be blessed, that we might have the strength to worship you alone.  Let us be resolved to serve only you, to put all false gods far from us.  It is you who are our allotted portion and cup, you who hold fast our lot – in you let us take refuge this day. You alone are holy, LORD; you alone are exalted far above all gods.  In you alone we find our salvation, and so, to you alone should we come for blessing.  Let us be as children, with hearts set on loving only you, and the kingdom of Heaven shall be ours, for you will then be at our side.  Forgive our transgressions, O LORD, our turning away from you… our breaking the covenant we made to serve you alone.  Let our vows be renewed this day, and let them be set in stone before you.  Help us by your grace not to waver, not to fear, but to know your innocence in our souls and remain humbly at the feet of your Son.

(Jos.3:7-11,13-17;   Ps.114:1-6;   Mt.18:21-19:1)   “My heavenly Father will treat you in exactly the same way unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”   The forgiveness of sins and the crossing of the Jordan into the Promised Land is our theme today.  Both are very much one and the same. In our gospel Jesus tells the parable of the merciless servant in order to teach Peter and the apostles of the office of forgiveness which is theirs through his intercession.  When one of a king’s officials is unable to pay his debt, he “prostrates himself” before the king and begs for time.  “Moved with pity,” the master lets the official go and writes off the debt.  (In just the same way the apostles are to forgive those who repent of their sins.)  But the same servant who is forgiven then demonstrates no forgiveness to a fellow servant, demanding from him all that is owed and throwing him in jail.  When the king gets wind of the servant’s lack of mercy, he removes the forgiveness of his debt and seeks to extract every penny from him.  The parable illustrates Jesus’ central teaching: we must forgive to be forgiven.  And it indicates the power of forgiveness Jesus, the King, gives to His apostles, the officials, the servants – evident in its being prompted by Peter’s question regarding forgiveness.  The Lord reminds them (and us) of the forgiveness they have received from Him, and that they should carry this gift to others. A metaphor of this power is presented in our first reading.  Joshua, Moses’ successor, leads the people across the Jordan River into the Promised Land at the instruction of the Lord.  Notice what causes the waters of the Jordan to “halt in a solid bank,” allowing the people to pass over on dry land (much as the previous generation had done at the Red Sea).  The waters cease flowing “when the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the Lord… touch the water of the Jordan.”  Much as Christ and His apostles stand in the breach interceding for the forgiveness of our sins and thus drawing us into the heavenly kingdom, so “the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord remained motionless on dry ground in the bed of the Jordan until the whole nation had completed the passage.”  Of old the priests led by Joshua found their power of intercession in the ark of the covenant which held the Ten Commandments; today our priests, led by Peter, find their power of forgiveness in the cross of Christ. Brothers and sisters, let us all forgive one another from the heart.  Let us flee in fear like the “Jordan turned back” on its course the danger of holding a grudge or failing to share the blessings we have received from Jesus.  Let us cross the Jordan to the Promised Land ourselves and serve to draw others into the heavenly kingdom.  Let us not disappoint our Father and so know His wrath; let us shine His loving mercy forth till all have crossed on dry land.   ******* O LORD, without forgiveness in our heart, we shall never cross over into the Promised Land.  YHWH, how shall we pass into the Promised Land if you do not go with us; and how shall you go with us if we are burdened by sin?  We need you to go before us, and we need your forgiveness, or we shall be left on the banks of the Jordan. And how shall we be forgiven our sins and find your presence among us if we fail to forgive those who are indebted to us?  O LORD, how can a man with a hardened heart come before you who are mercy itself?  He has no place in your kingdom, and so the waters which would have cleansed him of his sins drown him instead. Send us your priests, dear LORD, to lead us in your stead.  May Peter be at the head of your people to bring them as has Joshua, as does Jesus, into your Promised Land.  And may we thus be freed from sin that we might follow them.

(Dt.34:1-12;   Ps.66:1-3,5,8,16-17,20;   Mt.18:15-20)  “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that I would give to their descendants.” The promise is coming to fulfillment; Moses looks out on the land the Lord so long ago vowed to give the great patriarchs.  And though he shall not enter in and dwell there with the people, yet he has confidence that the promise shall be fulfilled.  And though after forty years of struggle he will die here at the border, we know he has a greater reward stored up for him in heaven. What is this Promised Land now?  Where do we find it today but in the Church founded by Jesus upon his apostles and living in the hearts and lives of all His disciples?  This is the Promised Land, the heavenly Jerusalem at work in the world even now.  Notice that Joshua “was filled with the Spirit of wisdom, since Moses had laid his hands on him.”  And “the Israelites gave him their obedience, thus carrying out the Lord’s command.”  In the same way the power of the Holy Spirit coming from Peter and the apostles is passed down to this day in the Lord’s Church: the power is indeed from Jesus and His Spirit, but their power works invariably through the deeds of men so ordained.  And by that power Joshua will lead the Israelites to the Promised Land even as Peter and his successors lead the Church to our heavenly homeland, insofar as we give obedience to them at the Lord’s command.  Jesus in our gospel outlines the special place the Church holds both in judging offenses and offering prayers.  He repeats the Church’s power to bind and loose from fault, a power that begins with Peter but extends to all His disciples so ordained, and reminds them also of the great strength they take when together they call upon His name: “If two of you join your voices on earth to pray for anything whatever, it shall be granted you by my Father in heaven.”  The Lord does not work in a vacuum but accomplishes great and wondrous things through those He lays His hands upon. What great works were accomplished by Moses: “He had no equal in all the signs and wonders the Lord sent him to perform.”  Oh “the might and terrifying power that Moses exhibited in the sight of all Israel.”  Do you think this power dies with Moses?  Do you think it has come to an end?  No.  For his successor Joshua parts the Jordan River by the same power; and now in Jesus and through His Church that power comes to fulfillment.  Tremendous are the Lord’s “deeds among men.”  If we but “appealed to Him in words,” what wonders would we know.  Wars would cease and this world would look much more like the heavenly kingdom He has promised us all.  Let us pray with one voice, as one Church, in His Name. ******* O LORD, what greater gift could you give than the power upon your priests to forgive men’s sins? YHWH, what power you give to those who serve you; what tremendous deeds are wrought by your disciples.  For what equal had Moses in the signs and wonders you worked through him?  And what greater work can there be than the forgiving of men’s sins, which you accomplish by your priests this day? Upon your Church you place your power, LORD; where two or three are gathered all prayers are answered.  And even judgment you give to Church leaders, the power to discern right from wrong.  As your lawgiver had clear vision till the end of his days, to see and know your will and teach the people of your ways, so this day is fulfilled in your Son and in those upon whom He lays His hands the grace of wisdom and understanding to lead souls into the promised land of Heaven.  Let us listen to the words they speak to us, let us be obedient sons.

(Dt.31:1-8;   Dt.32:3-4,7-9,12;   Mt.18:1-5,10,12-14)   “It is the Lord who marches before you; He will be with you and never fail or forsake you.”   “Do not fear or be dismayed,” little ones, the Lord is with us and watches over us.  Just as it was He who led the Israelites into the Promised Land, so it is He who leads us now into His “heavenly reign.” In our first reading the Israelites stand poised to attain that which they have been so long promised.  Centuries after God’s call to Abraham and at the end of forty years wandering in the desert, the time has come for them to enter in and take possession of the land the Lord has set aside for them.  As they look toward their heritage on the other side of the Jordan River, Moses encourages them: “It is the Lord, your God, who will cross before you.”  “The Lord alone was their leader,” brothers and sisters; and now it is Jesus alone who shepherds us into the kingdom we look upon with bated breath, for which we patiently prepare ourselves.  It is He who has crossed before us in His death and resurrection and now faithfully guides us into His Father’s reign. And just as Moses commissions Joshua to lead the Israelites: “You must bring this people into the land which the Lord swore to their fathers He would give them,” encouraging him to be brave and trust in God… so Jesus commissions His disciples to lead His sheep, and especially those who are lost or straying, into the kingdom of God – encouraging them to remain humble always, to make themselves lowly like a little child.  And His commission extends, of course, to us today; in these readings we hear His voice. As for “these little ones” of whom Jesus tells us, “I assure you their angels in heaven constantly behold my Father’s face,” are we not they of whom He speaks?  Are we not His innocent doves in need of the Church’s wisdom and guidance to find our place in the Lord’s kingdom?  And certainly even those who lead the flock are members of the flock themselves, for ultimately it is always the Lord who leads, and all must come unto His presence.  Let us be assured, little flock, let us take blessed comfort in the Lord’s care for His people.  “It is no part of your heavenly Father’s plan that a single one of these little ones shall ever come to grief.”  So let us be as children before Him, beholding the face of God.  This is His will for all our souls; let us walk confidently with Him, knowing His love and His blood will never fail us.  The kingdom awaits our coming.  ******* O LORD, only as a child will we enter Heaven, for only as a child can we stand in your presence. YHWH, make us humble and innocent as little children that you might lead us by your mighty hand into the land you promise all your lowly ones.  How shall we behold your face if we are not obedient to you, if we do not seek your glory by humbly doing your will?  Bless your people with your presence. Send us leaders, LORD, to guide us to your kingdom, to shepherd us to your holy mountain.  Your power be upon those you send to stand in the place of your only Son, that all might find salvation.  Help us to have faith in you, to know that as you have been with us until this day, so forever you will remain, destroying our enemies before us, setting us free from all sin. Let none of your children be lost, dear LORD, but come quickly to their heritage in you.  O let us be brave and steadfast! remembering ever it is you who go before us.