Day 73: Inheritance of Land

Numbers 26:1-65 As the people of Israel approached the acquisition of the Promised Land, Eleazar took another census to determine the number of able warriors in each tribe. The census was a visible sign of the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would become “a great nation.” The many members of the Catholic Church-in Heaven, in Purgatory, and on earth-testify to the dramatic truth of God’s promise to Abraham. (CCC 59-61, 1541)


Deuteronomy 27:14-26 This describes a ceremony to be conducted after the people will have crossed over into the Promised Land. The closing set of curses by the Levite priests correspond more or less to the Decalogue along with other common sins and abominations. The response, “Amen,” registered the ratification and renewal of the covenant by the people. (CCC 1061-1065)


Psalm 111 This psalm is essentially a hymn of praise for God’s covenant with his Chosen People that sets the stage for the New Covenant. The Hebrew text expresses God’s love using maternal symbols signifying birth and nourishment. The Church Fathers saw these references to feeding as a Eucharistic image. The fear of the Lord...wisdom: Pope Benedict XVI explained, “On the journey through life toward Christ, our initial servile fear is replaced by perfect awe, which is LOVE, a gift of the Holy Spirit” (Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, June 8, 2005). (CCC 2807)

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


A Second Chance for the Second Generation 


Torah 



Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, it is true and your praise endures forever. We give you thanks. Let us praise you every day. Let us be like Judah, that praise goes up first in this moment. We offer you our first fruits in this moment. We offer you our hearts. We offer you our everything, in the best way, Lord God, that we know that we can love you. These three ways that we know we can love you, we know that we can show you our love by worshipping you. We can show you our love by obeying your commandments. And we can show you our love by loving and caring for our brother and our sister among us. Help us to do all those three things, Lord God. Help us to be people who love you with everything we have and everything we are. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”