A Reflection on the Daily Office Readings

Joshua 8:1-22

As unfaithful as the Israelites may have been, God’s grace still invited them to return to faithfulness. God even promised to hand over the king of Ai with his people into the hands of the Israelites. Our problems usually appear bigger than they are in reality. The key is to persevere in the faith that God will grant us victory. We must remain alert and ready to battle the powers of the enemy at the appointed time. If we are faithful, then the power of God will ambush our enemy just as the Israelites ambushed the king of Ai and his people. The enemy may think they have won but in reality no weapon fashioned against God’s people will stand. In their greed, our enemies will go out against us, and in the process of doing so they will leave themselves vulnerable to the defeat and humiliation. Push forward then and stretch forth your hand to claim the promise of victory that God has prepared for you. Trust that God will go to battle for us and not even a single enemy of ours will survive or escape. Woe to those who attack the faithful people of God.

Romans 14:1-12

Do you consider yourself strong or weak in the faith? Those who are strong in the faith live with intentionality and strive to transform their community for the better. Those who are weak in the faith quarrel over trivial things and become distracted with superficial matters of the flesh. God invites us to be our true selves. Who are we to pass judgment on another person? Every individual must stand before God and either stand or fall because of how they chose to live their life and engage with their neighbor. God alone makes one stand strong and another fall in weakness. Be convinced in your own mind of what you are doing and why you are doing it. Everything we do should be done in honor of the Lord, and in an effort to give thanks to God. Do not be mistaken. We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. Christ died and rose again so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. Why then do you judge your brother or sister? Why do you despise your brother or sister? Stop being divisive and destructive in your behavior for we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. Truly, truly every knee shall bow to God, and every tongue shall give praise to God." Therefore, be accountable to God. 

Matthew 26:47-56

Judas is just like us. We often have good intentions but our bad choices betray God, our brothers and our sisters. Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss. How have we betrayed Christ? We have failed to realize that when we betray God, we only end up betraying ourselves and bringing death and destruction upon ourselves. There will be times when we feel good things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good people. In this world the faithful will suffer persecution. Do not be dismayed. These things unfold in order to fulfill God's purposes in your life. The question then becomes are you going to faithfully suffer with Christ or unfaithfully betray Christ? Our answer to this question will shape how we choose to live our life.

To God be the glory now and forever. Amen.

Fr. Thomas+



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