"Today I Have Removed From You The Shame Of Egypt."

"Then YAHWEH said to Joshua: 'Today I have removed from you the shame of Egypt.'  So the place is called Gilgal up to this day.  

The Israelites encamped in Gilgal where they celebrated the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho.  On the following day, they ate of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain on that very day.  And from that day on when they ate of the produce of the land, the manna ceased.

There was no more manna for the Israelites, and that year they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan. - Joshua 5:9-12 

(On the following day, they ate of the produce of the land.  Then begins a new era.  Up to this time, the religion of the Israelites had been that of a nomadic people.  Now begins a deep crisis which will last until king David's time, with the Israelites trying to adapt themselves to their new situation as farmers and city-dwellers and gradually evolving a kind of religion suitable for this new situation.  This text goes even further: the time of the journey, the time of the march towards the Promised Land is over; the people have entered this land.  The manna, nourishments for the journey, no longer falls and the people satisfy their hunger with the fruit of the country.  So it will be at the end of time when all humanity will have reached the FATHER and HIS kingdom, no longer will the Church give people bread for the journey--what they will have is the eternal presence of GOD.)

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It Is Love That I Desire, Not Sacrifice

"Come, let us return to YAHWEH.

HE who shattered us to pieces, will heal us as well;

HE has struck us down, but HE will bind up our wounds.

Two days later HE will bring us back to life;

on the third day, HE will rise us up,

and we shall live in HIS presence.

Let us strive to know YAHWEH.

HIS coming is as certain as the dawn;

HIS judgment will burst forth like the light;

HE will come to us as showers come,

like spring rain that waters the earth.

O, Ephraim, what shall I do with you?

O, Judah, how shall I deal with you?

This love of yours is like morning mist,

like morning dew that quickly disappears.

This is why I smote you through the prophets,

and have slain you by the words of MY mouth.

For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice;

it is knowledge of GOD, not burnt offerings."

- Hosea 6:1-6

(People regret their errors, but they are not so sincere as to abandon their sins.  They think they will please GOD by offering a few sacrifices but are far from real love which manifests itself in obedience; they prefer to offer the costly sacrifices which they choose rather than to do what GOD asks of them.

It is love that I desire, not sacrifice.  On several occasions JESUS refuted the Pharisees by quoting this saying [see Matthew 9:13].)

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Humanity's Reconciliation With GOD

"Return to your GOD, YAHWEH, O Israel!

Your sins have caused your downfall.

Return to YAHWEH  with humble words.  Say to HIM,

'Oh, YOU who show compassion to the fatherless,

forgive our debt, be appeased.

Instead of bulls and sacrifices,

accept the praise from our lips.

Assyria will not save us:

no longer shall we look for horses,

nor ever again shall we say 'Our gods'

to the work of our hands.'

I will heal their disloyalty

and love them with all MY heart,

for MY anger has turned from them.

I shall be like dew to Israel,

like the lily will he blossom.

Like a cedar, he will send down his roots;

his young shoots will grow and spread.

His splendor will be like an olive tree,

his fragrance, like a Lebanon cedar.

They will dwell in MY shade again,

they will flourish like the grain,

they will blossom like a vine,

and their fame will be like Lebanon wine.

What would Ephraim do with idols,

when it is I who hear and make him prosper?

I AM like an ever-green cypress tree;

all your fruitfulness comes from ME.

Who is wise enough to grasp all this?

Who is discerning and will understand?

Straight are the ways of YAHWEH:

the just walk in them, but the sinners stumble."

- Hosea 14:2-10

(The book of Hosea ends with these encouraging words.  After the trials, Israel will seek YAHWEH who will allow HIMSELF to be found.  Humanity's reconciliation with GOD will be an authentic marriage and it will be accompanied by a reconciliation of humanity with nature.  This was already said in 2:17-22 and will be developed in the Song of Songs which will use some images taken from Hosea.)

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Listen To MY Voice And I Will Be Your GOD And You Will Be MY People

"One thing I did command them: Listen to MY voice and I will be your GOD and you will be MY people.  Walk in the way I command you and all will be well with you.  But they did not listen and paid no attention.  They followed the bad habits of their stubborn heart and turned away from ME.

From the time I brought their ancestors out of Egypt until this day I have continually sent them MY servants, the prophets; but this stiff-necked people did not listen.  They paid no attention and were worse than their ancestors.

You may say all these things to them but they will not listen.  You will call them but they will not answer.  This is a nation that did not obey YAHWEH and refused to be disciplined.  Truth has perished and is no longer heard from their lips." - Jeremiah 7:23-28 

(Jeremiah repeats the warnings of Deuteronomy.  This book had just been discovered [2 Kings 22].  The chosen people will have peace if they listen to the word of their GOD.  In the same way we also must go beyond our religious practices and listen to the LORD.)

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Not The Smallest Letter Or Dot In The Law Will Change Until All Is Fulfilled

"Do not think that I have come to annul the law and the prophets.  I have not come to annul them, but to fulfill them.  I tell you this: as long as heaven and earth last, not the smallest letter or dot in the law will change, until all is fulfilled.

So then, whoever breaks the least important of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be the least in the kingdom of heaven.  On the other hand, whoever obeys them, and teaches others to do the same, will be great in the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 5:17-19 

(Here begins the presentation of the new Law.  It is far from what is often sought in a religion: practices to observe, fasts, prayers, good works with which one wins salvation.  JESUS says little about this because Scripture has dealt at length with this subject, and the study of Scripture itself shows that these laws and practices are always linked to a certain culture, and have to be adapted to the times.

Law: At times this word indicates the whole religion of Israel.  The law and the prophets: was a way of indicating the whole Scriptures.

Not the smallest letter or dot in the law will change until all is fulfilled.  JESUS does not refer to the commandments.  Rather HE affirms that the religion founded on the Old Testament's Scripture was a temporary, yet necessary step in the history of salvation.  The prophecies had to be fulfilled; the rites and sacrifices of that religion expressed in a veiled manner the mystery of sin and mercy that would be fulfilled in the person and the work of JESUS.  With HIM comes the perfect and definitive fellowship of GOD with humankind.

For us as well, observing the laws of the Scriptures is not an end in itself.  They are an expression of real love and are its guidelines.  In obeying them we become receptive to the Spirit who will lead us.  In this way we discover a "righteousness" or perfection far superior to the canonists of the time: the Lawyers and the Pharisees.)  

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The Pardon

"This story throws light on the kingdom of Heaven: A king decided to settle accounts with his servants.  Among the first of them was one who owed him ten thousand pieces of gold.  As the man could not repay the debt, the king commanded that he be sold as a slave with his wife, his children and all his goods, as repayment.

The servant threw himself at the feet of the king and said, 'Give me time, and I will pay you back everything.'  The king took pity on him, and not only set him free, but even canceled his debt.

When this servant left the king's presence, he met one of his fellow servants, who owed him a hundred pieces of silver.  He grabbed him by the throat and almost choked him, shouting, 'Pay me what you owe!'  His fellow servant threw himself at his feet and begged him, 'Give me time, and I will pay everything.'  But the other did not agree, and sent him to prison until he had paid all his debt.

Now the servants of the king saw what had happened.  They were extremely upset, and so they went and reported everything to their lord.  Then the lord summoned his servant and said, 'Wicked servant, I forgave you all that you owed me when you begged me to do so.  Weren't you bound to have pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?'  The lord was now angry.  He handed the wicked servant over to be punished, until he had paid the whole debt.'

JESUS added, 'So will MY heavenly FATHER do with you, unless you sincerely forgive your brothers and sisters.'" - Matthew 18:23-35 

(The offenses we suffer from our companions are nothing compared with our offenses against GOD.  While GOD forgives all, we do not even give others enough breathing space.  GOD does not demand HIS rights, but we, in demanding them, behave like wicked servants [see Matthew 5:43].

This parable goes beyond personal problems.  The world needs, above everything else, the forgiveness of GOD, and those who want a more just society will not achieve it through accusations and hatred.

The parable helps us understand much better another verse in the Scriptures: Revenge is mine, says the LORD; I will pay each one according to his own conduct.  GOD will not demand an account regarding his own rights, [what we owe HIM], but regarding the rights of the little ones who, unable to pay, were deprived of them.  HE will also demand an account regarding those who were sorry for their sins but not forgiven by others.

The fourth discourse of Matthew's Gospel ends with this parable on the duty to forgive.  The Church has not always been as holy as she should have been.  Yet nobody can deny that, at all times, in the Church the mercy of GOD has been preached and people have learned to forgive.)

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"Here I AM. It Was Written Of ME In The Scroll. I Will Do YOUR Will, O GOD."

"... and never, will the blood of bulls and goats take away these sins.

This is why, on entering the world, CHRIST says: YOU did not desire sacrifice and offering; YOU were not pleased with burnt offerings and sin offerings.  Then I said: 'Here I AM.  It was written of ME in the scroll.  I will do YOUR will, O GOD.'

First HE says: Sacrifice, offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings YOU did not desire nor were YOU pleased with them--although they were required by the law.  Then HE says: Here I AM to do YOUR will.

This is enough to nullify the first will and establish the new.  Now, by this will of GOD, we are sanctified, once, and for all, by the sacrifice of the body of CHRIST JESUS." - Hebrews 10:4-10 

(These verses say that we passed from a religion where everything is a continual beginning again to a new state where we are in the definitive now.  Here we have an aspect of the Christian faith that is not easy to accept.  Are we alone holding the definitive truth in the midst of so many religions in which all presume to have the truth?  Are we in a definitive situation when every day we fall into the same sins?  Are we the definitive people of GOD when the Christian witness in the world is so far from convincing?  No one will answer our doubts on this point: our only hope is to personally enter more deeply into the Christian experience.)

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The Fig Tree Without Fruit

"One day, some people told JESUS what had occurred in the temple: Pilate had had Galileans killed, and their blood mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.  JESUS asked them, 'Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered this?  No, I tell you.  But unless you change your ways, you will all perish, as they did.

And those eighteen persons in Siloah, who were crushed when the tower fell, do you think they were more guilty than all the others in Jerusalem?  I tell you: no.  But unless you change your ways, you will all perish, as they did.'

And JESUS continued, 'A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it, but found none.  Then he said to the gardener, 'Look here, for three years now I have been looking for figs on this tree, and I have found none.  Cut it down, why should it continue to deplete the soil?'  The gardener replied, 'Leave it one more year, so that I may dig around it and add some fertilizer; perhaps it will bear fruit from now on.  But if it doesn't, you can cut it down.'" - Luke 13:1-9 

(People told JESUS... about an uprising of Galileans in the temple court and the immediate intervention of the Roman guard stationed at a nearby fortress.  They profaned the holy grounds strictly reserved for the Jews and shed blood in the Holy Place.

Those relating the story expect that JESUS will answer in a way expressing HIS national and religious indignation over the killing of HIS compatriots and the offense against GOD.  JESUS does not choose to focus on these issues: as usual HE shows that people are more absorbed in human rather than divine causes and HE calls their attention to what counts: those Galilean patriots were violent men, just like the Roman soldiers who killed them.  Right then, GOD was calling everyone to a conversion on which their survival depended.  In such a violent atmosphere there was no way out for the dominated Jewish people except through faith, because faith works through the spirit of forgiveness.)

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The Lost Sheep

"Meanwhile tax collectors and sinners were seeking the company of JESUS, all of them eager to hear what HE had to say.  But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law frowned at this, muttering, 'This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.'  So JESUS told them this parable.

'Who among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, will not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and seek the lost one till he finds it?  And finding it, will he not joyfully carry it home on his shoulders?  Then he will call his friends and neighbors together, and say, 'Celebrate with me, for I have found my lost sheep!'  I tell you, in the same way, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner, than over ninety-nine decent people, who do not need to repent.

What woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one, will not light a lamp, and sweep the house in a thorough search, till she finds the lost coin?  And finding it, she will call her friends and neighbors, and say, 'Celebrate with me, for I have found the silver coin I lost!'  I tell you, in the same way, there is rejoicing among the angels of GOD over one repentant sinner.'" - Luke 15:1-10 

(Why do the Pharisees complain?  Because they are scrupulously concerned about ritual purity.  In this perspective--present in the Old Testament--in a relationship between two people, the one who is unclean will contaminate the other.  Since "sinners" by definition never think of purifying themselves of the hundred and one impurities of daily life, JESUS could then be considered a teacher ready to become impure at any moment.  So it is that JESUS will speak of GOD's mercy that has not swept away sinners from HIS presence.

Then again, is not there something more human in the indignation of "good" people: let everyone see the difference between the rest and us!  Once more JESUS battles against the old idea of merits that have been gained and therefore worthy of GOD's reward.

Happy the one sheep JESUS went after, leaving the ninety-nine!  Poor righteous ones who do not need GOD's forgiveness!

In large cities today, the church seems to be left with only one sheep.  Why does she not get out, namely, let go of her income, privileges or devotions of a commercial style, to go out looking for the ninety-nine who got lost?  To leave the comfortable circle of believers who have no problems, to look beyond our renewed rituals, and to be ready to be criticized just as JESUS was criticized, is the challenge today.

Who lights the lamp, sweeps the house and searches except GOD HIMSELF?  Out of respect for GOD, the Jews of JESUS' time preferred not to name HIM, and they used expressions such as the angels or heaven.) 

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If We Are Unfaithful, GOD Is Still Faithful

"Then HE sent a famine and ruined the crop that sustained the land; HE sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave;

his feet in shackles, his neck in irons; till what HE foretold came to pass, and YAHWEH's word proved HIM true.

The king sent for him; set him free; the ruler of the peoples released him.  He put him in charge of his household and made him ruler of all his possessions,..."

- Psalm 105:16-21

(The psalmist summarizes in this one psalm the goodness and the greatness of GOD, as he knew it from The Old Testament.  He connects with his past to seek GOD's presence and praise HIM.  We do not live in isolation from our material environment, nor do we from our historical past, and the historical books of the Scriptures, like the Creation, provide material for praise.  We are the people whom GOD has redeemed, but in redeeming us, GOD was keeping the promise which HE made 'to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his seed.'

When praying with this psalm, we can unite our history to the history of salvation and remember that, while the covenant is a mandate, it is also the Word of GOD and therefore it is an eternal and holy covenant.  If we are unfaithful, GOD is still faithful.)

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