Day 55: Obedience to God

Deuteronomy 4:9-14 Moses reminded the people about how God gave them the Decalogue, the “ten words” or Ten Commandments, at Mt. Horeb, also called Mt. Sinai. They are the words of God transmitted directly to Moses. This was the Law of the Old Covenant, which would only be understood fully and perfected in the New Covenant of Christ. Teach their children: The Church affirms that parents are the primary educators of their children. (CCC 2056-2062, 2221)


Ch 4:15-19 Moses explained that the First Commandment explicitly prohibits graven images of God since he is absolutely transcendent and cannot be depicted in a work made by human hands. Idolatry was practiced by nearly all of the surrounding cultures; in light of the penchant these people had for graven images, Moses, as an understandable precaution, banned the fabrication of graven images. (CCC 57, 2129, 2132, 2141)


Ch 4:37 Although it was not always clear to them, Israel gradually came to an understanding of God’s motive for his self-Revelation to them as his Chosen People: HE LOVED THEM UNCONDITIONALLY. (CCC 218)



Psalm 88 This psalm is the prayer of a man nearing death….reference to Christ, who was not confined by the bonds of death and thus remained free. (CCC 633)

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




Prayer by Fr Mike: “Father, we hear this prayer. We make this prayer of Psalm 88 and we know that you are near us in darkness. You are near us when we are alone and lonely and isolated. This is your prayer that you have placed into our mouths. This psalm, this prayer that was prayed by Jesus himself when he was abandoned by his friends in the custody of Kaiphas the high priest. Before he was handed over to be condemned falsely by Pilate, he spent that night in that prison. And Lord God, we have this tradition that the Son of God, that Jesus himself prayed this prayer. My one companion is darkness. And so we know that when we are in darkness, that the darkness is not dark for you. When we are in darkness we are not alone, because you have made the darkness your home, in the abandonment and in the rejection of your Son, Jesus. Lord God, help us in darkness to see your face. Help us in darkness when we can’t see to know that you are present. Help us to always have confidence in you. We make this prayer in the name of the one, Jesus who entered into darkness for our sake. We love you. We ask this of you. Amen.”

ANDREW'S PARALLELS

Side-by side passages between Numbers 4 and 1 Corinthians 12 that Fr. Mike commented on about the many members. and roles, of One Body.

What stuck out to me is that the cloth that covers the Ark of the Covenant when being transported is "all blue." Mary, the Ark of the New Covenant, is so often depicted in a blue veil, most famously in the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

If you haven't explored the typology of Mary being the Ark of the New Covenant, which we will see more of, I highly recommend two books: "Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary" by Dr. Brant Pitre, and "Behold Your Mother" by Tim Staples.