Luke 6:17-19
And Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.
In the Exodus, God was healing His people. In this Scripture, people had believed, asked of the LORD, acknowledged the Lord, and acted upon His Word. They expected to earn the right to be called the Children of God. They had grown from the slaves thinking God should do things for them, their way.
Judges 1
After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” 2 The Lord said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.” 3 And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites. And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you.” So Simeon went with him. 4 Then Judah went up and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated 10,000 of them at Bezek. 5 They found Adoni-bezek at Bezek and fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6 Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and his big toes. 7 And Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table. As I have done, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
8 And the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. 9 And afterward the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negeb, and in the lowland. 10 And Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba), and they defeated Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.
11 From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher. 12 And Caleb said, “He who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him Achsah my daughter for a wife.” 13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter for a wife. 14 When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?” 15 She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
16 And the descendants of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near Arad, and they went and settled with the people. 17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the name of the city was called Hormah. 18 Judah also captured Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory. 19 And the Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron. 20 And Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said. And he drove out from it the three sons of Anak. 21 But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
22 The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them. 23 And the house of Joseph scouted out Bethel. (Now the name of the city was formerly Luz.) 24 And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the way into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.” 25 And he showed them the way into the city. And they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go. 26 And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city and called its name Luz. That is its name to this day.
27 Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages, for the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. 28 When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely.
29 And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.
30 Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but became subject to forced labor.
31 Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon or of Ahlab or of Achzib or of Helbah or of Aphik or of Rehob, 32 so the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.
33 Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, so they lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became subject to forced labor for them.
34 The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain. 35 The Amorites persisted in dwelling in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily on them, and they became subject to forced labor. 36 And the border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.
And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight"
Judah was a son of Jacob and Leah. He believed with the help of his brother, he would fight for God's will. He deemed a fight was necessary, he believed himself capable of the task with godly counsel. He expected success. He expected to help others.
Manasseh's tribe had a famous father, Joseph. They enslaved people to go forward to success. We all have a choice to adopt the ways of our parents or do differently. Ephraim, the same. Zebulon.
Asher, Naphtali and Dan were sons of women wanted not as wives. They compromised, they capitulated. They knew their place, had been told all of their lives. Sometimes a compromise accepted is just that. And rules out a greater opportunity. Life will eat your lunch and not thank you for it. Or tell you your place, if you listen to life.
There are times a fight is required. And without the fight, the struggle not to sit at the back of the bus, you are Far worse for Not Fighting. A lot of fights depend on the struggle motivation for His acceptance. Compliance is not always the way to peace. There is a quote from the movie "Cowboys and Aliens." It's rather like Zacchaeus climbing the tree to see Jesus.
[referring to his wife being taken by the aliens]
Doc: It's my fault she got took. I never should have taken her to that town.
Meacham: Oh, no! No! No! It's not your fault. You'll get her back. You're setting things right. Just gotta have faith, that's all.
Doc: Faith?
Meacham: Mmhmm.
Doc: Yeah. God's been real swell to me. I don't mean no disrespect, preacher, but either he ain't up there or he don't like me very much.
Meacham: Well, surely you don't expect the Lord to do everything for you. Do you, Doc? You gotta earn His presence. And then you gotta recognize it. And then you have to act on it.
The Canaanites. What did they want of HIM, of the Children of Israel? Jesus died for them. God knew their hearts and decided. The Old Testament said follow HIM. The New Testament said follow HIM.
Father Jorge Mario Bergoglio -
"If the church stays wrapped up in itself, it will age. And if I had to choose between a wounded church that goes out on to the streets and a sick, withdrawn church, I would definitely choose the first one.”
"Poor girl who, rather than returning the child to sender, had the courage to carry it into the world, must wander from parish to parish so that it’s baptized!”
Decrying, their exploitation, "Children are mistreated, and are not educated or fed. Many are made into prostitutes and exploited." He denounced a "culture of discarding" the elderly and treating them as if they are disposable and worthless due to their advanced age.
Having witnessed a woman, called after a vegetable, mistreat her children simply by not standing up for right. I find the new Pope, with his fights for the weak and needy, as riches for the Church. Perhaps we will see Him fight for the rights afforded to Peter and the Lord's brothers. Peter, the man Jesus said would prevail. Peter's mother-in-law served the Lord after He healed her.
1 Corinthians 9:5
Don't we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas?
Ephesians 5:32
This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
Sermons used to be in Latin, as well as the Readings. The Church determined the Word. If we say the Plan of God - then we say we believe His Word. We have Scripture because people lived to deliver us HIS Word from 395 years of Roman Empire indecision. The People who loved Jesus, lived to spread His Word. Ask Him in prayer, work for His will, and act upon His Word.
The Catholic Church should understand the Sermons... based upon His Word. Church? I would definitely choose the first one. His. Jesus Christ the Lord.
Psalm 112
Praise the Lord!
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
who greatly delights in his commandments!
2 His offspring will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
5 It is well with the man who deals generously and lends;
who conducts his affairs with justice.
6 For the righteous will never be moved;
he will be remembered forever.
7 He is not afraid of bad news;
his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.
8 His heart is steady; he will not be afraid,
until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.
9 He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever;
his horn is exalted in honor.
10 The wicked man sees it and is angry;
he gnashes his teeth and melts away;
the desire of the wicked will perish!
Praise the Lord!
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
who greatly delights in his commandments!
2 His offspring will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
Think about how mighty the Church has been, early Church Fathers - who were married with offspring. And today. Some mysteries are not so mysterious. We were a generation raised thinking of the Holiness of the Church. We did not expect to dictate to the Church, bend down to learn the wisdom of the people. Look to HIM. He tells us. Love.
God's workmen go home. His Plan endures. Fight the good fight.
People of Israel inquire of the Lord. The crowd sought to touch Him, for power came out from Him and healed them all. Seems we would inquire of the Lord, for our needs.
Revelation 19:7
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.
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