MOSES - AARON - MIRIAM

 In today's Office of Readings, we hear the voice of the prophet Micah (Chaptrt 6 )

...For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,

from the place of slavery I released you;

And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam...

Think back and remember: according to Numbers 26: 57–59, Miriam and Aaron are true siblings of Moses, i.e. he shares their blood. By tradition, Miriam was much older than Moses (in fact, some traditions identify her with the midwife who delivered him); Aaron was perhaps 3 years his senior.

MOSES was called by the Burning Bush in the desert, in a land far from his peple where he had fled after murdering an Egyptian.   He had been raised as an Egyptian:  he was not even circumcized into God's Covenant when he met God face to face.  Yet he was chosen. In another way, we would think him unfit:  while God gave him the authority to speak "In His Name*", poor Moses had a speech impediment!  (According to a traditional Jewish midrash, Moses' impeded speech dated from infancy when the angel Gabriel had guided him to place a hot coal in his mouth.)

This is yet another example of the maxim, "God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called".  So, the LORD gave him both his brother Aaron and his sister Miriam to serve as Moses' prophets.

* see my post earlier this week In His Name

Dormition of the Theotokos

Our sister churches also celebrate today, August 15th, the death and resurrection of the body of the Holy Mother of God under the name The Dormition (falling asleep).

Above is their icon - a window into heavenly truth - for today's Feast, for your meditations today; below is their traditional story.    

downloaded from https://www.goarch.org/dormition 

They traditionally use the Divine Liturgy composed by St. John Chrysostom today, as it is a Great Feast in their tradition as well as our own.  The following two prayers from today's liturgy were downloaded from the oca.org website:

In giving birth, you preserved your virginity. In falling asleep you did not forsake the world, O Theotokos. You were translated to life, O Mother of Life, and by your prayers, you deliver our souls from death (Troparion).

Neither the tomb, nor death, could hold the Theotokos, who is constant in prayer and our firm hope in her intercessions. For being the Mother of Life, she was translated to life, by the One who dwelt in her virginal womb (Kontakion).

In His NAME

 "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit"

When we begin to pray, we do so in God's NAME. It is not under our own will and authority that we act:  rather, we do so in obedience to God and the promptings of His most Holy Spirit.  

The 2nd commandment of the decalogue treats of sins of blasphemy:

You shall not invoke the name of the LORD, your God, in vain. For the LORD will not leave unpunished anyone who invokes his name in vain. (Exodus 20:7)

The key word here is "Invoke": blasphemy is a much broader sin than simply not swearing or using ejaculations that include sacred words. If we claim to be Christians or Catholics and to speak AS such, we must be very mindful of what we do or say. We are meant to be light to the world, and if we come in His Name we must tread with care.

The catechism states:

2148 Blasphemy is directly opposed to the second commandment. It consists in uttering against God - inwardly or outwardly - words of hatred, reproach, or defiance; in speaking ill of God; in failing in respect toward him in one's speech; in misusing God's name. St. James condemns those "who blaspheme that honorable name [of Jesus] by which you are called."78 The prohibition of blasphemy extends to language against Christ's Church, the saints, and sacred things. It is also blasphemous to make use of God's name to cover up criminal practices, to reduce peoples to servitude, to torture persons or put them to death. the misuse of God's name to commit a crime can provoke others to repudiate religion. Blasphemy is contrary to the respect due God and his holy name. It is in itself a grave sin.79

The Epistle of James cited above discusses some of these criminal acts that profane the Name of God:

Listen, my beloved brothers. Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him? But you dishonored the poor person. Are not the rich oppressing you? And do they themselves not haul you off to court? Is it not they who blaspheme the noble name that was invoked over you? ~ Jas 2:5-7

Indeed, doing such acts is blasphemous. Our Lord Jesus Christ, though speaking the Truth, was condemned and put to death for blaspheming.

As confirmed Catholics, WE are "...he who comes in the name of the Lord..." That is what the sacraments of initiation do: they make us fit to act in God's NAME, as his little angels to other people.  Baptism births us into God's life, Eucharist infuses us into the very substance of God in every cell of our body and crevice of our spirit, and Confirmation commisions us with the authority to do His will "...on earth as it is in Heaven..."

The bouquet of 3 Virginities

white for the 1st virginity: of the infant, pure and perfect on her mother's arms

   pink for the 2nd virginity: of the bride as she first goes to the bed of her husband

       violet for the 3rd virginity: of the chaste widow, grieving yet joyful

♡

Yesterday, I was at Publix and thought that I would like fresh flowers, preferably "the violet of widows" as the saint* had said. Well, as usual, Publix wanted me to buy not one, but three.  Then I saw that in addition to the violet bunch I wanted, there were also the very same pink blooms that I carried in my bridal bouquet!

Seeing my bridal flowers reminded me of something wise that my mother said after my vows.  I had lived with my love for three years before God let me marry him. And he only became fit through the intercession of our Mother, Mary Untier of Knots. Knowing that I wasn't a virgin physically, she deliberately pulled me aside and said, "Remember that tonight as you go to your husband, you are again a virgin for you have never made love before with your spouse." At times, my mother spoke from the Holy Spirit.

So, I thought again of my current station of life and saw that the good Lord grants me yet a third virginity by my widowhood.  I am again chaste and pure, ready to meet Him now, or when He comes in His glory.

I bought 3 sprays, one for each virginity. Then I set aside two sets of each flower as gifts to two other widows in His name.  Thank You, Lord, for your many kindnesses!

* That garden of the Lord’s brothers and sisters includes, yes it includes, it certainly includes not only the roses of martyrs but also the lilies of virgins, and the ivy of married people and the violet of widows. There is absolutely no kind of human beings, dearly beloved, who need to despair of their vocation.

-Augustine, Ancient Christian Commentary, p 219

Eat This Scroll

Today's 1st reading is from the book of Ezekiel ~  

He said to me: Son of man, eat what is before you; eat this scroll, then go, speak to the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth and he gave me the scroll to eat.Son of man, he then said to me, feed your belly and fill your stomach with this scroll I am giving you. I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

He said: Son of man, go now to the house of Israel, and speak my words to them.

☆

I just love Ezekiel! He is a prophet with the talent of painting pictures, which as a visual learner I find extremely helpful.

Image from Divine Child in the Detroit suburbs

I believe that the prophet Ezekiel may be the first to physically "eat the Word of God" in the Hebrew scriptures. In so doing, he incorporates the scroll of God into his very being and so is able to to spill it forth to those to whom he is sent.

In the book of Deuteronomy 8:3 it says:

He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger, and then fed you with manna,c a food unknown to you and your ancestors, so you might know that it is not by bread alone* that people live, but by all that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD.

Jesus alludes to this verse at his Temptation (see Matthew 4:4)

Often, God's gifts through Our Lord Jesus are prefigured in the Hebrew Scripture. 

Before Vatican II, our biblical scholars would study these as "types" echoed in Scripture. The old Catholic Encyclopedia from 1912 has a wonderful exposition on this fruitful means of tying together the Old and the New Covenants for those interested; there are also more moden studies which incorporate Dei Verbum and later teachings.

ADVICE ON MURMURRING

The topic of murmuring came up again this week.  I wrote a rant about it before,

( 2017 post here )  but it is a sin that comes very easily to my own lips.

Grumbling causes great harm to communites, and was a particular concern to St. Benedict. My copy of the Rule had a full appendix on the subject. 

Advice on avoiding grumbling from

https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/faith-and-character/faith-and-character/do-not-grumble-no-murmuring-and-no-complaining.html 

Give thanks to the Lord for His many blessings He has showered down on you, 

is in the moment giving to you, and will give you in the future. Think about all that 

you truly can be thankful for, and switch from thoughts of aggravation to thoughts 

of appreciation.  St. Paul gives us a tip here, as well: 

"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, 

whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, 

whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, 

if there is anything worthy of praise, 

think about these things." (Phil 4:8)

BY THEIR FRUITS YOU SHALL KNOW THEM

 

Matthew 7:15+

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1832 The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. the tradition of the Church lists twelve of them: "charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity."

¹¹²

SO...ask yourself when others speak to you, especially when they give you advice or counsel,

"Does this person live in the Holy Spirit?"

Anyone who strives to follow the Word of God receives GIFTS from the Holy Spirit that, when exercised, manifest to others as these FRUITS.

1. Are you always seeking fault, or loving?
2. Are you depressed, or joyful?
3. Are you aggressive, or peaceful?
4. Are you abrupt, or patient?
5. Are you cruel, or kind?
6. Do you do evil, or good?
7. Are you greedy, or generous?
8. Do you ride roughshod, or act with gentleness?
9. Are you two-faced, or faithful?
10. Do you strive to be sexy in dress and manner, or are you modest?
11. Do you yield to every impulse, or mindfully practice self-control?
12. Do you flaunt or misuse your body, or act chastely?

Each of us should always strive to use our gifts wisely.  When we do, our very being will become a light to others.