We Will Serve

August 18, 2007
Saturday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

“As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” But the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the LORD for the service of other gods.” Joshua 24:15-16

“Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14-15

Piety

Let us pray: Lord, help us to choose rightly whom we will serve. No matter what others may do, give us the fortitude to swim against the stream to love and serve you.

Protect us from hypocrites. Support us with prominent leaders – leaders like Joshua and Matthew – who will accomplish much good through their influence, especially when zealous in religion.

Let us turn to the solid tangible feel of nature to witness the covenant of our community. God, you alone can give grace and bless our work in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son our Lord. Amen.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/081807.shtml

The theme of service continues today with a special perspective by Joshua.

He teaches that serving the Lord is not easy. So Joshua gives his followers a chance to choose to worship other gods which might not make demands upon their people. He knows that some people may not be able to live up to this standard. As the notes from the NAB indicate, “fidelity to God's service is not easy, and therefore those who take such solemn obligations on themselves must be ever vigilant against human weakness.” Weakness takes its shape in sins and the obstacles we erect that block a loving relationship with the Lord.

Instead of weakness, Joshua uses the strength symbols of a stone and a tree to mark the love of God and the covenant. These are rich symbols in Biblical history. The stone represents the cornerstone of the covenant Joshua advanced between the people and the Lord. It carries with it the implication that both parties will steadfastly adhere to the promises made in the new covenant. The tree represents the living things which God has granted to His people.

Jesus, too, uses the symbol of the stone and the tress to mark his love for us. He uses the parable about seed falling on rocky soil which can not grow. Jesus commands the people to roll away the stone confining Lazarus in his death chamber and blocking Lazarus from being in the presence of Jesus. He also commands Peter to build the Church on the rock of love. Throughout the New Testament, trees play prominent roles in many parables until in the end, we see Jesus himself nailed to a tree.

Rocks can be good when we build on solid footing. They also can be bad when they get in the way of productive growth. Satan even tried to use a rock against Jesus by tempting him (Luke 4/Matthew 4) to turn a rock into bread while Jesus was in the desert.

The Kingdom of heaven belongs to those who will serve the Lord in faith. People with such solid footing are both the small, innocent children of St. Matthew’s reading or the people who pledged their fidelity to the Lord in the Book of Joshua. Conversely, those who worship false idols fall out of favor with the Lord because they have blocked the love of the Lord or failed the test of love.

Action

Make a choice…serve the Lord.

We live in a region filled with monuments. There are the classics to Presidents Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson. There are more recent monuments like the Eternal Flame at the grave of President Kennedy, the Vietnam Veterans “Wall,” the memorial to FDR. There also are monuments to peace including the statue of Ghandi near DuPont Circle. Churches like St. Anthony of Padua in Falls Church have erected Peace Poles and planted prayer gardens around them. Our cemeteries are also filled with memorials to our loved ones.

There may be one monument missing. Where is the monument devoted to your beloved savior, Jesus of Nazareth? Not one erected by some Church or some cemetary.

A few years ago, I was on a men’s team when a women’s Cursillo team offered palanca for us. Among their weekly offerings, they wrote a prayer on the side of a rock and presented it to us. To this day, that rock, sits in my living room, a visible sign of the love of that weekend and the support the candidates and team got from these special women.

Pick something to be a symbol of your fidelity to God. Try to use something from nature (in itself it is a gift from God). Maybe you have a rock around your home or office that can be placed somewhere prominent. Or you could find one. If not a rock, is there a tree or bush that can be a living monument? It will serve as a reminder of your steadfast devotion and help bring you back, in love, from the near occasions of sin.

Paint something on the side of the rock or the pot where the plant is rooted. Let it be your symbol – your personal cornerstone covenant – for how you will build the Church of God on earth. Put it someplace prominent – like under a prominent tree in your yard or in a potted plant in your house so others will see it and know that “As for you and your household, you will serve the Lord.”

You also might consider doing the exercise listed at the bottom of this web site:
http://mrmom.amaonline.com/littleprayerrock.htm