Lord, open my lips. – And my mouth will proclaim your praise. God, come to my assistance. – Lord, make haste to help me. The beginning of the book of Joshua 1:1-18 Joshua, called by God, encourages the tribes to unity After Moses, the servant of the Lord, had died, the Lord said to Moses’ aide Joshua, son of Nun: “My servant Moses is dead. So prepare to cross the Jordan here, with all the people into the land I will give the Israelites. As I promised Moses, I will deliver to you every place where you set foot. Your domain is to be all the land of the Hittites, from the desert and from Lebanon east to the great river Euphrates and west to the Great Sea. No one can withstand you while you live. I will be with you as I was with Moses: I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be firm and steadfast, so that you may give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers I would give them. “Above all, be firm and steadfast, taking care to observe the entire law which my servant Moses enjoined on you. Do not swerve from it either to the right or to the left, that you may succeed wherever you go. Keep this book of the law on your lips. Recite it by day and by night, that you may observe carefully all that is written in it; then you will successfully attain your goal. I command you: be firm and steadfast! Do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord, your God, is with you wherever you go.” So Joshua commanded the officers of the people: “Go through the camp and instruct the people, ‘Prepare your provisions, for three days from now you shall cross the Jordan here, to march in and take possession of the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you.’” Joshua reminded the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh: “Remember what Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you when he said, ‘The Lord, your God, will permit you to settle in this land.’ Your wives, your children, and your livestock shall remain in the land Moses gave you here beyond the Jordan. But all the warriors among you must cross over armed ahead of your kinsmen and you must help them until the Lord has settled your kinsmen, and they like you possess the land which the Lord, your God, is giving them. Afterward you may return and occupy your own land, which Moses, the servant of the Lord, has given you east of the Jordan.” “We will do all you have commanded us,” they answered Joshua, “and we will go wherever you send us. We will obey you as completely as we obeyed Moses. But may the Lord, your God, be with you as he was with Moses. If anyone rebels against your orders and does not obey every command you give him, he shall be put to death. But be firm and steadfast.” RESPONSORY Joshua 1:5, 6, 7, 9; Deuteronomy 31:20 The Lord says: As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. – Be strong and courageous; you will lead my people to a land where milk and honey flow. Do not be afraid for I am with you. I will never leave you, nor will I abandon you wherever you go. – Be strong and courageous; you will lead my people to a land where milk and honey flow. From a letter to the Romans by Saint Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr Let me not only be called a Christian, but prove to be one You have never begrudged the martyrs their triumph but rather trained them for it. And so I am asking you to be consistent with the lessons you teach them. Just beg for me the courage and endurance not only to speak but also to will what is right, so that I may not only be called a Christian, but prove to be one. For if I prove myself to be a Christian by martyrdom, then people will call me one, and my loyalty to Christ will be apparent when the world sees me no more. Nothing you can see is truly good. For our Lord Jesus Christ, now that he has returned to his Father, has revealed himself more clearly. Our task is not one of producing persuasive propaganda; Christianity shows its greatness when it is hated by the world. I am writing to all the churches to declare to them all that I am glad to die for God, provided you do not hinder me. I beg you not to show me a misplaced kindness. Let me be the food of beasts that I may come to God. I am his wheat, and I shall be ground by the teeth of beasts, that I may become Christ’s pure bread. I would rather that you coaxed the beasts to become my tomb and to leave no scrap of me behind; then when I have died I will be a burden to no one. I shall be a true disciple of Christ when the world no longer sees my body. Pray to Christ for me that by these means I may become a sacrifice to God. I do not give you orders like Peter and Paul. They were apostles, I am a condemned criminal; they were free, I am still a slave. But if I suffer, I shall become the freedman of Jesus Christ and I shall rise again to freedom in him. Now as a prisoner I am learning to give up my own wishes. All the way from Syria to Rome I am fighting wild beasts, by land and by sea, by day and by night, chained as I am to ten leopards, I mean the detachment of soldiers who guard me; the better you treat them, the worse they become. I am more and more trained in discipleship by their ill usage of me, but I am not therefore justified. How happy I will be with the beasts which are prepared for me! I hope that they will make short work of me. I shall even coax them to devour me quickly and not to be afraid of touching me, as sometimes happens; in fact, if they hold back, I shall force them to it. Bear with me, for I know what is good for me. Now I am beginning to be a disciple. May nothing visible or invisible rob me of my prize, which is Jesus Christ! The fire, the cross, packs of wild beasts, lacerations, rendings, wrenching of bones, mangling of limbs, crushing of the whole body, the horrible tortures of the devil—let all these things come upon me, if only I may gain Jesus Christ! RESPONSORY Galatians 2:19-20 Through the law, I died to the law to live for God; I still live within this human body, but I live now by faith in the Son of God, – who loved me, and gave himself up for me. With Christ I have been nailed to the cross, and I live now no longer my own life, but the life of Christ who lives in me. – Who loved me, and gave himself up for me. CONCLUDING PRAYER O God, from whom all good things come, grant that we, who call on you in our need, may at your prompting discern what is right, and by your guidance do it. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. – Amen. Let us praise the Lord. – And give him thanks
Posted on: Mon, 10 Jun 2013 09:21:19 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015