Day 87: God keeps his promises


Joshua 19:49-51 Like Caleb, Joshua received a city for his family, Timnath-serah, in the territory of the tribe of Ephraim


Ch 20:1-9 As required by Mosaic Law and the covenant, six cities of refuge were established as safe havens for persons who accidentally killed someone. Rather than risk death by the vengeance of the surviving family, the perpetrator would be protected in a city of refuge as he or she awaited a fair trial to determine guilt. 


Ch 21:1-42 The Levites, the priestly tribe of Israel, were given land and cities in each of the twelve tribal territories, forty-two cities in all.


Ch 21:43-45 This is a frequent point of emphasis in the Old Testament; God is ALWAYS FAITHFUL and kept ALL OF HIS PROMISES to Israel. (CCC 212-214)


Psalm 131 This is a psalm of humility: unlike Adam and Eve, who sought to be like God (cf. Gen 3:5), the psalmist chooses to express the humility of one who knows that everything, beginning with life, comes from God and that God will care for every person as a mother cares for her child. This prayer points to the proper childlike spirit that we should have toward our Father. (Cf. Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, September 14, 2005)


The human person is created in God’s image; however, God infinitely transcends the nature of the human person. Although we call God “Father” just as Christ in the Old Testament Patriarchs did, God is NEITHER man or woman but PURE SPIRIT (I know this question came up in the Ascension Catholic Bible Studies Facebook Group Page recently so BAM!! 😎). He transcends the differences in gender but at the same time possesses the perfections that mark the two sexes to an infinite degree. He is the model of the perfect father AND the perfect mother. To call God “Father” is to recognize him as the origin and authority over everything and everyone as well as one who is filled with goodness and love for his children and provides for their needs. Moreover, he has the perfection of motherly perfections that we associate with nurturing, caring, and tenderness. Both fathers and mothers should model their parenthood after the example of God the Father. (CCC 239, 370)

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



Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we give you praise and we thank you. We give you glory and honor and every breath we have is from you. Every heartbeat is from you. And so, we thank you for every heartbeat. We thank you with every heartbeat. We thank you for every breath. And we thank you with every breath. Lord God, you have given them to us for free, and we are so blind to them so often. So, every moment of every day, especially this day, every heartbeat every breath, let every one be a prayer of praise, a prayer of thanks to you. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.”