Be who God made you to be and be that well. Pursue excellence.

Our troubles don't make sense. And it seems like God just doesn't care. It's one thing to praise God when life is good. And another to praise Him in darkness. Keep putting one foot in front of the other. Walk-in faith.

Isaac was an adult not a child and submitted to the will of God too.

Let the word and the Spirit animate our hearts and illuminate our minds. Leah's first three sones were to make Jacob love her, the fourth one Judah she praised the Lord instead.

Are you wrestling with God?

"What are you looking for?"

Even though he always walked with the Lord, he was betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, betrayed by his master, and imprisoned. But the Lord God was always with him. Even though it may not feel like he is with us or when we don't like our situation, live like a victor. For in all circumstances the Lord is with us. He is faithful.

He was fallen but he changed. He put his life on the line for Benjamin. With God's help, we can change too.

He was fallen but he changed. He put his life on the line for Benjamin. With God's help, we can change too.

They weep because things could have been different. They could have never seen each other again.

Children are a blessing from God.

Blood on the altar is the sacrifice offered for the glory of God, prefiguring our offering on the altar of bread and wine thousands of years later.

Let my hard soften like wax in the sun rather than harden like clay in your presence, Lord.

Each one was needed to defeat each of the Egyptian gods so that the Israelites would forgo their Egyptian indoctrination

In training, learning to trust God.

The laws are God teaching the Israelites, who had lived as slaves for hundreds of years, how to live righteously and justly with each other. Then he can teach mercy later.

“‘Do not defile yourselves by any of these things, because by them the nations whom I am driving out of your way have defiled themselves."

  This is the scriptural defense used in applying the sexual morality laws in Leviticus 18 to all people for all time rather than the other laws in Leviticus. The others are either temporary, conditional laws set in time for the purpose of setting the Israelites up as a community separate from the people they are living around, or temple worship rules for distinguishing how the Israelites were to worship in those times. The morality laws were for everyone because they were not conditional to the Israelites alone. This is based on the reference to how the other nations had defiled themselves by breaking them. An important take-away: Whether you are a victim in one of these situations or you are attracted to these situations, you are still one of God's beloved.

"and I have filled him with a divine spirit of skill and understanding and knowledge in every craft"

What a gift to be filled with the spirit to be able to do my work as a child of God.

In response to God's presence the Israelites were called to live distinctly from those around them. Am I living distinctly in response to God's presence in my lfe? How is God asking me to live?

Am I being generous enough? As generous as God calls me to be?

"As the sons of Israel broke camp, Judah led the way." Judah means Praise. Having Judah go first, was saying “the praise must go up.” Let praise always be first.

Even Moses, as faithful as he was and as much as God loved him, faced consequences for disobeying God.

Sometimes the answer to our prayers is no.

A prayer for when darkness surrounds you so that you may know that God is still present. According to tradition, Jesus prayed "My one companion is darkness" during the night he spent in prison.

Aa a woman and a wife, this chapter made me almost give up on the Bible as it was written by men and whether it really can be the Word of God. Thank you Father Mike Schmitz for explaining it in context so well!

Listen to Day 56 Jealous Husbands here.

The Aaronic blessing: "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace."

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may
fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, no
harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near you tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on
the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. “Because
he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he
acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day.

"It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High,

to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night,

to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp.

For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of your hands.

How great are your works, O LORD, how profound your thoughts!

The senseless man does not know, fools do not understand,

that though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed.

But you, O LORD, are exalted forever.

For surely your enemies, O LORD, surely your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered. You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; fine oils have been poured upon me.

My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries; my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;

planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.

They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green,

proclaiming, “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him."

"On the day the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant law, was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening till morning the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire. That is how it continued to be; the cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire."

So much symbolism exists between the ancient Jewish people and the Catholic Church today: The fire over the ark = the red candle burning near the tabernacle

First fruits and tithes: What if everyone tithed 10% to take care of the poor?

"Be strong and of good courage. Be not frightened; neither be dismayed. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go"

"as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

John 6:51: Jesus said, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." Despite the faults and shortcomings of the church's human leaders throughout time, the receiving of the real body and blood of Jesus stands the test of time. The Eucharist is the reason that I am Catholic. As Peter says in John 6:68, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

Saul's root sin was vanity, being inordinately concerned with what others thought of him.

David raced to the battle line without hesitation.

David does not realize how close he is to disaster, with Saul right on the other side of the ridge. God, in his mysterious way, can be protecting us when we don't even realize it.

Wait for the Lord to tell you that "this" is the battle you throw your hat into.

David spares Saul's life and asks God to treat him as he treated Saul. Father Mike parallels this story into the Our Father where we ask God to forgive us as we forgive others. Forgiveness of others confirmed while watching an episode in The Chosen where the character playing Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 32:35 to the children, saying "Vengeance is mine."

Tamar, raped. By her brother. Making her the patron of rape victims in my prayers. And woe is David, FOR NOT DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT.

"The fool says in is heart there is no God. They are corrupt; they do abominable deeds there is none that does good."

Absalom shows no sign of repentance or acknowledging that he's done something wrong; David shows no real forgiveness. He lets Absalom come back to town but does not allow him in his presence. God calls us to repentance and gives us full forgiveness, full access to His house and His heart. Where there is no true repentance or forgiveness and therefore no full reconciliation, we end up with rebellion.

David has failed as a king and as a father and is fleeing his kingdom due to his son's rebellion. Yet he tells the Lord he still believes and will trust in Him even though he is losing the battle. And remember, it all started with just not doing what was right.

Do not forsake me, O LORD;

my God, be not far from me!

Come quickly to help me,

my Lord and my salvation!

Inspiration to read from Marie, after Jesus told her in Eucharistic Adoration to say 5 Our Father's, Hail Mary's and Glory Be's in a row for 21 days:

"Naaman, the army commander of the king of Aram, was highly esteemed and respected by his master, for through him the LORD had brought victory to Aram. But valiant as he was, the man was a leper.

Now the Arameans had captured from the land of Israel in a raid a little girl, who became the servant of Naaman’s wife.

She said to her mistress, “If only my master would present himself to the prophet in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

Naaman went and told his master, “This is what the girl from the land of Israel said.”

The king of Aram said, “Go. I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman set out, taking along ten silver talents, six thousand gold pieces, and ten festal garments.

He brought the king of Israel the letter, which read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

When he read the letter, the king of Israel tore his garments and exclaimed: “Am I a god with power over life and death, that this man should send someone for me to cure him of leprosy? Take note! You can see he is only looking for a quarrel with me!”

When Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his garments, he sent word to the king: “Why have you torn your garments? Let him come to me and find out that there is a prophet in Israel.”

Naaman came with his horses and chariot and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house.

1Elisha sent him the message: “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will heal, and you will be clean.”

But Naaman went away angry, saying, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand there to call on the name of the LORD his God, and would move his hand over the place, and thus cure the leprous spot.

Are not the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be cleansed?”^* With this, he turned about in anger and left.

But his servants came up and reasoned with him: “My father, if the prophet told you to do something extraordinary, would you not do it? All the more since he told you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”

So Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God. His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

He returned with his whole retinue to the man of God. On his arrival he stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel."

[For the choirmaster]

Acclaim God, all the earth,

sing psalms to the glory of his name, glorify him with your praises,

say to God, 'How awesome you are! 'Your achievements are the measure of your power, your enemies woo your favour,

all the earth bows down before you, sings psalms to you, sings psalms to your name.

Come and see the marvels of God, his awesome deeds for the children of Adam:

he changed the sea into dry land, they crossed the river on foot. So let us rejoice in him,

who rules for ever by his power; his eyes keep watch on the nations to forestall rebellion against him.

Nations, bless our God, let the sound of his praise be heard;

he brings us to life and keeps our feet from stumbling.

God, you have put us to the test, refined us like silver,

let us fall into the net; you have put a heavy strain on our backs,

let men ride over our heads; but now the ordeal by fire and water is over, you have led us out to breathe again.

I bring burnt offerings to your house, I fulfil to you my vows,

the vows that rose to my lips, that I pronounced when I was in trouble.

I will offer you rich burnt offerings, with the smoke of burning rams. I will sacrifice to you bullocks and goats.

Come and listen, all who fear God, while I tell what he has done for me.

To him I cried aloud, high praise was on my tongue.

Had I been aware of guilt in my heart, the Lord would not have listened,

but in fact God did listen, attentive to the sound of my prayer.

Blessed be God who has not turned away my prayer, nor his own faithful love from me.

When King Solomon builds the temple, he is doing it for God. But the amassing of his wealth and armor, that was for himself. He became an image of wealth and strength, but was that for himself or for the Lord? Where do I too want to give off an image of holiness or strength or wisdom, when it is not who I actually am? Lord, make my inner desire match up to my heart.

"I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind: God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil."

Anhedonia vs Hedonism.

The inability or unwillingness to enjoy oneself vs only seeking pleasure and self-indulgence.

WISDOM

"A good name is better than fine perfume,
and the day of death better than the day of birth.
It is better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
for death is the destiny of everyone;
the living should take this to heart.
Frustration is better than laughter,
because a sad face is good for the heart.
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person
than to listen to the song of fools.
Like the crackling of thorns under the pot,
so is the laughter of fools.
This too is meaningless.

Extortion turns a wise person into a fool,
and a bribe corrupts the heart.

The end of a matter is better than its beginning,
and patience is better than pride.
Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit,
for anger resides in the lap of fools.

Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”
For it is not wise to ask such questions.

Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing
and benefits those who see the sun.
Wisdom is a shelter
as money is a shelter,
but the advantage of knowledge is this:
Wisdom preserves those who have it.

Consider what God has done:

Who can straighten
what he has made crooked?
When times are good, be happy;
but when times are bad, consider this:
God has made the one
as well as the other.
Therefore, no one can discover
anything about their future.

In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these:

the righteous perishing in their righteousness,
and the wicked living long in their wickedness.
Do not be overrighteous,
neither be overwise—
why destroy yourself?
Do not be overwicked,
and do not be a fool—
why die before your time?
It is good to grasp the one
and not let go of the other.
Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes.

Wisdom makes one wise person more powerful
than ten rulers in a city.

Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous,
no one who does what is right and never sins.

Do not pay attention to every word people say,
or you may hear your servant cursing you—
for you know in your heart
that many times you yourself have cursed others.

"So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun."

AND

"Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!

For the living know that they will die,
but the dead know nothing;
they have no further reward,
and even their name is forgotten.
Their love, their hate
and their jealousy have long since vanished;
never again will they have a part
in anything that happens under the sun.

Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom."

"Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him."

The crucifix pierces our heart, reminding us of the devastating effects of sin But more importantly, it tells us that yes, we are loved that much. It's not the depth of his suffering but the depth of his love we should focus on - that that God believes that you are worth his own suffering and death.

Do I have any idols in my life, anything that I place before God, that I need to tear down?

Its a beautiful love song. In St John Paul's Theology of the body, he reflected on the Song of Solomon: The woman always remains a mastery of her own mystery. She gets to choose and can always say no. The lover always approaches with the risk of denial.

"The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you."

Viaticum is the last time you receive Holy Communion. It means "bread for the journey." Just like Elijah gets up, eats bread, and meets God, who speaks to him in the quiet. YOU are not done! This world may end for you but you are not done. You will meet God and spend eternity with Him.

"Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name."

The Inescapable God

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
O Lord, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is so high that I cannot attain it.

Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light around me become night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

For it was you who formed my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
all the days that were formed for me,
when none of them as yet existed.
How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
I come to the end—I am still with you.

O that you would kill the wicked, O God,
and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me—
those who speak of you maliciously,
and lift themselves up against you for evil!
Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me
and lead me in the way everlasting

"and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
    and to walk humbly with your God?"

Prayer for Preservation from Evil

A Psalm of David.

I call upon you, O Lord; come quickly to me;
give ear to my voice when I call to you.
Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,
and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.

Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;
keep watch over the door of my lips.
Do not turn my heart to any evil,
to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with those who work iniquity;
do not let me eat of their delicacies.

Let the righteous strike me;
let the faithful correct me.
Never let the oil of the wicked anoint my head,
for my prayer is continually against their wicked deeds.
When they are given over to those who shall condemn them,
then they shall learn that my words were pleasant.
Like a rock that one breaks apart and shatters on the land,
so shall their bones be strewn at the mouth of Sheol.

But my eyes are turned toward you, O God, my Lord;
in you I seek refuge; do not leave me defenseless.
Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me,
and from the snares of evildoers.
Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
while I alone escape.

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

A Psalm of David.

Hear my prayer, O Lord;
give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness;
answer me in your righteousness.

Do not enter into judgment with your servant,
for no one living is righteous before you.

For the enemy has pursued me,
crushing my life to the ground,
making me sit in darkness like those long dead.
Therefore my spirit faints within me;
my heart within me is appalled.

I remember the days of old,
I think about all your deeds,
I meditate on the works of your hands.

I stretch out my hands to you;
my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.

Answer me quickly, O Lord;
my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me,
or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,
for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.

Save me, O Lord, from my enemies;
I have fled to you for refuge.
Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God.
Let your good spirit lead me
on a level path.

For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life.
In your righteousness bring me out of trouble.
In your steadfast love cut off my enemies,
and destroy all my adversaries,
for I am your servant."

Isaiah 1

This is the worship I asked for but you are not the worshipers.  Are you coming before Him with your whole heart?

Tobit 1-2

The book is there to demonstrate a deep truth: Tobit is a member of the lost tribes in the North but he continued to worship the Lord. He does the right thing again and again despite everything and everyone he is surrounded by.

Key point: No matter what others are doing, I can always do the right thing.

Why is Tobit missing from the Protestant bible?

Martin Luther removed it and 6 other beautiful books in the 1500s. 

The Archangel Raphael is introduced in Scripture.

Tobias and Sarah's marriage prayer:  

“Blessed are you, O God of our ancestors,
    and blessed is your name in all generations forever.
Let the heavens and the whole creation bless you forever.
You made Adam, and for him you made his wife Eve
    as a helper and support.
    From the two of them the human race has sprung.
You said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone;
    let us make a helper for him like himself.’
 I now am taking this kinswoman of mine,
    not because of lust,
    but with sincerity.
Grant that she and I may find mercy
    and that we may grow old together.”

Sarah's father's prayer of thanksgiving for their marriage:  

“Blessed are you, O God, with every pure blessing;
    let all your chosen ones bless you.
    Let them bless you forever.
Blessed are you because you have made me glad.
    It has not turned out as I expected,
    but you have dealt with us according to your great mercy.
Blessed are you because you had compassion
    on two only children.
Be merciful to them, O Master, and keep them safe;
    bring their lives to fulfillment
    in happiness and mercy.”

Raphael's Exhortation:

"I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, with the train of his garment filling the temple. Seraphim were stationed above; each of them had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they hovered.

One cried out to the other:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts!"

All the earth is filled with his glory!”

"For a child is born to us, a son is given to us;

upon his shoulder dominion rests.

They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero,

Father-Forever, Prince of Peace."

The prophetic prediction of Peter as the first Pope

"On that day I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and will clothe him with your robe and bind your sash on him. I will commit your authority to his hand, and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.  I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut, and no one shall open.  I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his ancestral house.  And they will hang on him the whole weight of his ancestral house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons."

And Jesus' fulfillment of it

"And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

"A wise man is cautious and turns away from evil,
    but a fool throws off restraint and is careless."

“For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfil to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

“Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your mind to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.  The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, so I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia and came to make you understand what is to befall your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.”

The Return of the Unclean Spirit

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but it finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ When it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So will it be also with this evil generation.”

"O Lord, Lord, you rule as King over all things, for the universe is in your power and there is no one who can oppose you when it is your will to save Israel,  for you have made heaven and earth and every wonderful thing under heaven.  You are Lord of all, and there is no one who can resist you, the Lord.  You know all things; you know, O Lord, that it was not in insolence or pride or for any love of glory that I did this, and refused to bow down to this proud Haman;  for I would have been willing to kiss the soles of his feet to save Israel!  But I did this so that I might not set human glory above the glory of God, and I will not bow down to anyone but you, who are my Lord; and I will not do these things in pride.  And now, O Lord God and King, God of Abraham, spare your people; for the eyes of our foes are upon us to annihilate us, and they desire to destroy the inheritance that has been yours from the beginning.  Do not neglect your portion, which you redeemed for yourself out of the land of Egypt.  Hear my prayer, and have mercy upon your inheritance; turn our mourning into feasting that we may live and sing praise to your name, O Lord; do not destroy the lips of those who praise you.”

“O my Lord, you only are our king; help me, who am alone and have no helper but you,  for my danger is in my hand.  Ever since I was born I have heard in the tribe of my family that you, O Lord, took Israel out of all the nations, and our ancestors from among all their forebears, for an everlasting inheritance, and that you did for them all that you promised.  And now we have sinned before you, and you have handed us over to our enemies because we glorified their gods. You are righteous, O Lord!  And now they are not satisfied that we are in bitter slavery, but they have covenanted with their idols to abolish what your mouth has ordained, and to destroy your inheritance, to stop the mouths of those who praise you and to quench your altar and the glory of your house,  to open the mouths of the nations for the praise of vain idols, and to magnify forever a mortal king.

 “O Lord, do not surrender your scepter to what has no being; and do not let them laugh at our downfall; but turn their plan against them, and make an example of him who began this against us.  Remember, O Lord; make yourself known in this time of our affliction, and give me courage, O King of the gods and Master of all dominion!  Put eloquent speech in my mouth before the lion, and turn his heart to hate the man who is fighting against us, so that there may be an end of him and those who agree with him.  But save us by your hand, and help me, who am alone and have no helper but you, O Lord.  You have knowledge of all things, and you know that I hate the splendor of the wicked and abhor the bed of the uncircumcised and of any alien.  You know my necessity—that I abhor the sign of my proud position, which is upon my head on days when I appear in public. I abhor it like a filthy rag, and I do not wear it on the days when I am at leisure.  And your servant has not eaten at Haman’s table, and I have not honored the king’s feast or drunk the wine of libations.  Your servant has had no joy since the day that I was brought here until now, except in you, O Lord God of Abraham.  O God, whose might is over all, hear the voice of the despairing, and save us from the hands of evildoers. And save me from my fear!”

“You are the Lord, you alone; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. To all of them you give life, and the host of heaven worships you.  You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham;  and you found his heart faithful before you, and made with him a covenant to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite; and you have fulfilled your promise, for you are righteous.

 And you saw the distress of our ancestors in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea. You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted insolently against our ancestors. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day.  And you divided the sea before them, so that they passed through the sea on dry land, but you threw their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters.  Moreover, you led them by day with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire, to give them light on the way in which they should go. You came down also upon Mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them right ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments,  and you made known your holy sabbath to them and gave them commandments and statutes and a law through your servant Moses.  For their hunger you gave them bread from heaven, and for their thirst you brought water for them out of the rock, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you swore to give them.

But they and our ancestors acted presumptuously and stiffened their necks and did not obey your commandments;  they refused to obey, and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them; but they stiffened their necks and determined to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and you did not forsake them.  Even when they had cast an image of a calf for themselves and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed great blasphemies,  you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness; the pillar of cloud that led them in the way did not leave them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night that gave them light on the way by which they should go.  You gave your good spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and gave them water for their thirst.  Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness so that they lacked nothing; their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.  And you gave them kingdoms and peoples, and allotted to them every corner, so they took possession of the land of King Sihon of Heshbon and the land of King Og of Bashan.  You multiplied their descendants like the stars of heaven, and brought them into the land that you had told their ancestors to enter and possess.  So the descendants went in and possessed the land, and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hands, with their kings and the peoples of the land, to do with them as they pleased.  And they captured fortress cities and a rich land, and took possession of houses filled with all sorts of goods, hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive orchards, and fruit trees in abundance; so they ate, and were filled and became fat, and delighted themselves in your great goodness.

 Nevertheless they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their backs and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies.  Therefore you gave them into the hands of their enemies, who made them suffer. Then in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors who saved them from the hands of their enemies.  But after they had rest, they again did evil before you, and you abandoned them to the hands of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them; yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you rescued them according to your mercies.  And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your ordinances, by the observance of which a person shall live. They turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey.  Many years you were patient with them, and warned them by your spirit through your prophets; yet they would not listen. Therefore you handed them over to the peoples of the lands.  Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

Now therefore, our God—the great and mighty and awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love—do not treat lightly all the hardship that has come upon us, upon our kings, our officials, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until today.  You have been just in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly;  our kings, our officials, our priests, and our ancestors have not kept your law or heeded the commandments and the warnings that you gave them.  Even in their own kingdom, and in the great goodness you bestowed on them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you and did not turn from their wicked works.  Here we are, slaves to this day—slaves in the land that you gave to our ancestors to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts.  Its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins; they have power also over our bodies and over our livestock at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.”

For behold, the day comes, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.  But for you who fear my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. You shall go forth leaping like calves from the stall.  And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.

My son, when you come to serve the LORD, prepare yourself for trials.

Be sincere of heart and steadfast, undisturbed in time of adversity.

Cling to him, forsake him not; thus will your future be great.

Accept whatever befalls you, in crushing misfortune be patient;

For in fire gold is tested, and worthy men in the crucible of humiliation.

Trust God and he will help you

Duties toward Parents