Day 189: Follow the Lord

2 Kings 23:1-30 Josiah assembled all the elders, read the book of the covenant to them, and vowed his support of that covenant. He embarked upon a campaign to destroy every pagan artifact, abolish every idolatrous practice in the kingdom, and kill every pagan priest, reversing what his father had done. He restored the Passover feast, which had ceased being celebrated. Later, Josiah was slain by the Pharaoh of Egypt.


2 Chronicles 34:1-18 Josiah was a good and devout king who set out to destroy the pagan idols and places of worship. During his reign, the Book of the Law, which evidently had been lost for some time, was found, which subsequently led to another great reform in the worship of the one true God.


2 Chronicles 34:19-33 Upon having the Book of the Law read to him, Josiah realized how far Israel had fallen from the true worship of the Lord and the observance of his Law. The book probably included Deuteronomy and some or all of the rest of the Pentateuch. Consulting with a prophetess, Josiah called together the people and read the Law to them. He then made an oath of obedience to the Lord and all his Commandments. The people did the same, renewing the covenant once again. 


Proverbs 8:1-36 Christian tradition has connected this passage to Mary, the Mother of God. God the Father transmitted the greatest Revelation of his wisdom through the Incarnation of his Son-the “Word made flesh”-in the womb of Mary, his Mother. God planned that Mary, the Mother of Christ, be conceived without any stain of sin so she could become his worthy dwelling place before his Birth. Since Mary is Mother of the Incarnate Word, she is aptly called Seat of Wisdom, which title is included in the Litany of Loreto. (CCC 721-725)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)




Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father, we thank you. Thank you for your gift. Thank you for who you are. Thank you for also continually revealing your heart to us, revealing your wisdom. Lord, as we journey through Proverbs, we ask that you please increase our wisdom. Increase our ability to see what is right and what is true and not only to see it, not only to hear it, as we prayed yesterday, but to truly understand, to truly listen, to be able to truly hear in the depths of our mind and in our hearts that we can be wise, not just know a lot of stuff, but that we can be wise people in this world. Help us to be wise, so that we can wisely follow after you and wisely live and wisely lead the people who are under us, people that we are responsible for, our families, and our friends, and the people in our world. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”