Bible and Catechism in a Year: Day 38

Exodus 10-11

Locusts and darkness fall upon Egypt, and Pharaoh tries to do some hard bargaining, but ultimately has his proposals shot down by Moses and Aaron...oh, and God.  Pharaoh predictably goes back on his word even when he promises to release the Israelites from bondage.

Then the Lord reveals the final plaque to Moses...the death of all the first born of Egypt, both man and beast. 

We've heard this story before, and in the next chapter we'll see it play out.  But we keep in mind how all of this relates to Christ, and how it prepares God's chosen people to one day receive the Lamb of God.

Psalm 37

This is a great psalm to come back to.  Again we are comparing the wicked to the righteous, and what the Lord has in store for both.  Though the Psalmist makes a very clear demarcation between the two, we know that in our lives we often play both parts...we are sinful and sometimes wicked, and in need of repentance. 

I am drawn to verses 27 and 28:  Depart from evil, and do good;  so shall you abide for ever.  For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints.

So even the psalmist recognizes that we need to "depart from evil, and do good."  We would do well to heed his instruction.

Matthew 21:1-22

Jesus enters Jerusalem triumphant, as was fortold (as Matthew astutely points out).  He is recognized as the messiah, the Son of David, by the people.  The same people who will soon deny him.

Jesus then cleanses the temple of the money changers and sellers of pigeons, accusing them of making the temple a "den of robbers."  I wonder how often we do the same with our petty squabbles and politics which sometimes make life in any church ministry unpalateable. 

Jesus heals the blind and the lame, and then children begin to cry out "Hosanna to the son of David!"  So "out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast brought perfect praise.  Considering that my youngest is presently very challenging in church, this is somewhat comforting.

We then find Jesus having an altercation with...a fig tree?  The fig tree loses, and Jesus uses it to teach a lesson on faith.  Certainly it is a warning to us as to what can happen to us if we do not bear fruit for Him.  We, too, can wither in our spiritual life and find ourselves unable to do anything good.

And, if we have faith in Christ, then certainly we CAN do all things.

Catechism 302-308

God has a plan, and this plan is both a grand scheme which works for the good of all creation, as well as an individual scheme, which applies to each of us.  I had a discussion with an aquaintance on a recent business trip where we discussed our tendancy not to worry about our day to day needs.  I identified myself as a man of faith, and she identified herself as a woman of no faith.  But even so, she had come to realize that her base needs are always met, even when she is unsure of how that will come to be.  It goes to show that some of God's truths transcend faith and can be grasped by anyone who has lived in this world long enough to see "how things work."

God uses our cooperation, given in free will, to unfold his plan in history.  This is awesome when we think about it.  We can cooperate with God in our intelligence and will to do his work in his vineyard.  We are most free when we are able to choose the good.  Ironically, we are most captive when we find ourselves choosing things contrary to the good.  We think we are free in that case, but we really aren't.  After all, if we cut ourselves off from God, there is very little we can do.

Tomorrow's readings:

Exodus 12
Psalm 38
Matthew 21: 23-46
Catechism 309-314

Another Catholic Dude experiences single fatherhood...

You may be wondering where I went.  Perhaps you assumed I ran out of steam with my Bible and Catechism in a year quest.  Maybe you thought I was another one of those bloggers who goes strong for a month and then falls off the face of the earth.  Or maybe you didn't even notice I'd gone.  It's ok, whatever it was, I forgive you.

For the record, I was off blog for three reasons.

Firstly, during the time I usually use to blog, I was trying to get ahead of my work a little bit in anticipation of taking some time off from work, and by evening I was assisting my beautiful wife with the creation of some Halloween costumes for our children.

Secondly, that beautiful wife of mine was on a business trip out of the country for 8 days.

Thirdly, after she returned (and I returned to work), the time I usually use to blog was used to catch up on work.  Hence, one full month away from the blogosphere...

"Wait a minute!" you ask.  "Isn't your wife a stay at home mom?" 

Yes.  Yes she is.  And for those of you who know what stay-at-home moms do, you know she has a very demanding job.  I've always known that her job was just as demanding, if not more, than mine.  And so, when she expressed some frustration one day over the frequency of business trips I had to take, and how doing so enabled me to get a break from the kids for a period of time, I suggested that she use some of my frequent flyer miles to take a business trip of her own. 

So, after a good deal of planning, preperation, and some anxiety on all fronts, a car arrived in front of our house at 4:45 AM on a Monday morning to take her to the airport.  The well rehearsed roles were reversed...I was watching her drive away into the darkness and facing a week at home with the kids without my helpmeet while she was heading into the unknown and starting to miss her family by the time she got to the airport.

I had no delusions as to the difficulty of the task I had undertaken.  I had reviewed the kids' schedules multiple times, put together a "to do" list (which included construction of my eldest child's Halloween costume), and even planned a tentative menu for the week.  I was really looking forward to having extra time with the kids, but I knew that this was going to be a busy and tiring week.  I was pretty sure I was prepared for it.

Or was I?

Well, despite the fact that I knew what I was getting into, I still learned a few things.  But this isn't a parenting blog, so I'm not going to go into a lot of detail there.  Overall it was a very positive experience and it gave me an even deeper appreciation for what my wife does on a daily basis, especially when I have to travel for work (which I have to do twice this month...)

I look back on the entire experience now and see moments of triumph (finishing the epic costume on time, not missing any of the kids' activities, successfully navigating Halloween, getting my daughter's room completely cleaned, cooking meals most nights, etc.) as well as failures (Losing my temper and acting more like a child than my children on two occasions, not getting everything on my to do list done, not catching up on my blog, not getting adequete sleep, etc.).  But one thing that really sticks out in my post mordem is not finding the time to pray outside of mealtime and just before bed. 

Going into the week, I had planned to gather the kids and pray together every night.  It never happened, though, because I was so focused on the tasks I wanted to complete while I was home from work.  The kids got their homework done, and I got them to their activities to be sure, but once everything was done and we turned to the ritual of getting them to bed, I completely forgot about my resolution and simply looked forward to getting them into bed and out of the way so I could work on MY projects. 

How often do we do this as Christians?  How often do we let our own ambitions come between us and time with our Savior?  I imagine it happens a lot.  It was happening in my life before my wife's trip, and continued to happen after she returned.  But looking back on it now shines a spotlight on it and makes me think more deeply about it. We NEED to set aside time with Jesus outside of Sunday Mass and prayer before meals.  To paraphrase Archbishop Fulton Sheen:  "If you don't have time to spend half an hour in adoration each day, you need to spend an hour..."

Still, it's much easier said than done.  How do I bring family prayer into my house and make it meaningful for everyone?  With a nearly 23 month old hellion running about?  All things are possible in Christ...I'll be looking to Him to guide me...

Now it's time to get back to the scriptures.