Jos 3:7-10a, 11, 13-17
The LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know I am with you, as I was with Moses. Now command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant to come to a halt in the Jordan when you reach the edge of the waters.”
So Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD, your God. This is how you will know that there is a living God in your midst, who at your approach will dispossess the Canaanites. The ark of the covenant of the LORD of the whole earth will precede you into the Jordan. When the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the LORD, the Lord of the whole earth, touch the water of the Jordan, it will cease to flow; for the water flowing down from upstream will halt in a solid bank.”
The people struck their tents to cross the Jordan, with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant ahead of them. No sooner had these priestly bearers of the ark waded into the waters at the edge of the Jordan, which overflows all its banks during the entire season of the harvest, than the waters flowing from upstream halted, backing up in a solid mass for a very great distance indeed, from Adam, a city in the direction of Zarethan; while those flowing downstream toward the Salt Sea of the Arabah disappeared entirely. Thus the people crossed over opposite Jericho. While all Israel crossed over on dry ground, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD remained motionless on dry ground in the bed of the Jordan until the whole nation had completed the passage.
Mt 18:21–19:1
Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”
When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.
When I got home tonight from work, I kissed Marilyn and Lily Bug, said “hey!” to Alicia, got my dinner (they had already eaten), and turned on the TV to “M.A.S.H.” Just another typical night. Then usually I will turn the TV off go to http://avemariaradio.net/catholic-online-radio.php and listen to EWTN radio and try to get inspiration for my blog. For some reason, I didn’t turn off the TV tonight or listen to the radio. Instead, I left the TV on “just for background noise”, and tried to start my meditations on the Gospel. Of all the programs to be coming on after M.A.S.H., the network chose that oldie, “Touched By An Angel.” I know, I know, it’s corny and it’s not exactly Catholic, but it’s not anti-Catholic, either.
Anyway, tonight’s episode fits in with today’s Gospel in a way. It’s a story about two of God’s creatures who get caught up in Satan’s hate—one a human being and the other an angel of God. The angel is sent from heaven to show the man that his hate is destroying his family and in fact the whole community. The man has hate because his father was a tyrant who ruled the house by violence and intimidation and the devil uses the man’s hate for his father to turn the man to his ways of lying and murder. The angel confronts the devil face to face and becomes so angry at Satan that he becomes stronger in his control of the man’s hate, and the angel actually comes to hate the man for allowing the devil to take over. As a result the angel is “relieved” of her “assignment” and another angel is brought in to “pinch hit” for her until she can re-learn to love the man again. As I said, the TV show is very corny. But it’s also the way the devil works—so in a sense, I guess the show served a purpose for me tonight.
There was a line from the episode tonight that brought today’s Gospel home for me. “If you can’t find the love for him IN YOU, let GOD love him THROUGH you.” (The capital letters are for emphasis, to show the proper inflection in the actor’s voice).
Even when you think you can’t forgive, you have to anyway, as many times as necessary to understand what God’s love is for all of us.
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