Moses did everything just as the Lord had commanded him. – Exodus 40:16

       There’s one unforgettable test I flunked in high school. We had only three minutes to answer a long exam, so I dove into answering the questions even if the instructions told us to read the entire test paper before answering.

       I was pressured as one girl and then another raised their hands proudly, signifying they were done. It hadn’t been even a minute yet! Only a handful of girls were able to complete the entire exam. How could they have done it so quickly?

          If I had been careful to follow instructions and read to the end of the paper, I would have seen the last line that said, “No need to answer any of the questions. Just write your name, the date and put a star on the upper right-hand corner of your paper.”

         We’re so used to doing things our way that we overlook the value of obedience. This is true even when it comes to our relationship with the Lord. We pick and choose which among His commandments we want to follow, not knowing that obedience to Him unlocks the blessings we desire.

      God’s commandments are there to lead us towards the path of blessing and not to make our lives difficult. Obey and reap the blessings! Rissa Singson Kawpeng (justbreatherissa@gmail.com)

Reflection: Obeying God is listening to Him. It is having an open heart to follow the path that He points out to us.

Lord Jesus, help me to follow Your footsteps closely. Open my eyes to the blessings of obeying You. Amen.

St. Peter Julian Eymard, pray for us.

Moses spends some time and effort in making sure that the Ark of the Covenant has a place of honor within the camp of the Israelites — after all, it symbolizes the presence of the Lord in their midst. It is always important to honor the presence of God.

16 Moses did exactly as the Lord had commanded him. 17 On the first day of the first month of the second year the Dwelling was erected. 18 It was Moses who erected the Dwelling. He placed its pedestals, set up its boards, put in its bars, and set up its columns. 19 He spread the tent over the Dwelling and put the covering on top of the tent, as the Lord had commanded him. 20 He took the commandments and put them in the ark; he placed poles alongside the ark and set the propitiatory upon it. 21 He brought the ark into the Dwelling and hung the curtain veil, thus screening off the ark of the commandments, as the Lord had commanded him. 34 Then the cloud covered the meeting tent, and the glory of the Lord filled the Dwelling. 35 Moses could not enter the meeting tent, because the cloud settled down upon it and the glory of the Lord filled the Dwelling. 36 Whenever the cloud rose from the Dwelling, the children of Israel would set out on their journey. 37 But if the cloud did not lift, they would not go forward; only when it lifted did they go forward. 38 In the daytime the cloud of the Lord was seen over the Dwelling; whereas at night, fire was seen in the cloud by the whole house of Israel in all the stages of their journey.

R: How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, mighty God!

2 [3] My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. (R) 3 [4] Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest in which she puts her young — Your altars, O Lord of hosts, my king and my God! (R) 4 [5] Blessed they who dwell in your house; continually they praise you. 5 [6] Blessed the men whose strength you are! 7 [8] They go from strength to strength. (R) 10 [11] I had rather one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I had rather lie at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. (R)

Judgment Day is real. We all need to be aware that we have to give an account of our lives when we die. It is important to prepare ourselves for this day, as we do not know when it will come. None of us knows the number of days we will live. So the safe way to approach life is to ensure that we grab the opportunities to do good works so that we need not worry about the time the Lord will call us to Himself. Let us be prepared for that day.

Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son.

47 Jesus said to the disciples: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. 48 When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. 49 Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. 51 “Do you understand all these things?” They answered, “Yes.” 52 And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.” 53 When Jesus finished these parables, he went away from there.

think: If you die today, are you ready to meet the Lord?

Read the Bible in one year 1 Maccabees 7-8

T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST

thank You, Lord, for: ______________________________________________________

CLOUD BY DAY, FIRE BY NIGHT

The presence of the Lord was a 24/7 affair. It was cloud by day and fire by night. “The glory of the Lord filled the dwelling.” Moses and everyone else knew better than to ignore it. They only moved when the cloud lifted.

       Life was simple for the Israelites under Moses’ leadership. It was a case of persist in the way of the Lord — or perish. Their goal was ever in their minds: to reach the land promised to their forefathers.

       The Dwelling was the end-all and be-all of their existence. From a net catch of a multiplicity of experiences, they valued as supreme what the cloud and fire signified — the unparalleled beauty and loveliness of God’s dwelling place. Indeed, the psalmists were right: “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, mighty God!”

       We value many things. We want to be this and that. Our social networking profiles show us to be more than just who our birth certificates and what our diplomas dictate. In a world of “cewebrities” (celebrities on the web), everyone seems to have a following, everyone also seems to have a pedigree, and we are all more than just engineers, attorneys-at-law, accountants, teachers, priests, etc. Many of us even have a video production outfit right in our bedrooms!

       “The Kingdom of heaven,” the Lord reminds us, “is like a net thrown into the sea which collects fish of every kind.” But while everything we catch is good, not everything good is convenient and useful for us at any given time. We need to discern, as God does and will do at the end of time.

       The Israelites were most likely distracted by many concerns. There was the persistent complaint about the tasteless manna. There was the never-ending grumbling about the leeks and onions they sorely missed back in Egypt. There, too, was the sideline entertainment-turned-idolatry of a molten calf.

       We, too, are challenged by sensory and information overload. We need focus. We need a firm foundation. We need to live in the dwelling of the Lord. Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

---------- REFLECTION QUESTION ----------

What distracts you from focusing on God?

Father, I am bothered by many things. Teach me to focus on You alone that I may be at peace within. Amen.