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Thursday, August 9, 2001

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St. Edith Stein


Numbers 20:1-13
Psalm 95
Matthew 16:13-23

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"you, rebels!"

"Listen to me, you rebels!" —Numbers 20:10

Moses called the Israelites "rebels." Miriam and Aaron had rebelled, and Miriam became a snow-white leper (Nm 12:9-10). Those who scouted the promised land rebelled, except for Joshua and Caleb. In punishment, the people wandered in the desert for forty years (Nm 14:34). Korah led a rebellion, and he and his followers were consumed by fire (Nm 16:35). Those involved in Dathan's and Abiram's rebellion were swallowed up in an earthquake (Nm 16:31-32). The Israelites rebelled again at the waters of Meribah (Nm 20:13). They showed little common sense and learned nothing from history.

The current generation of American Catholics in the U.S.A. may go down in history as another generation of rebellion. Many have rebelled against the Lord regarding sexual morality, especially the Church's condemnation of artificial birth control. We have become a leprous culture of death and wandered in a desert of confused and false teaching. Our families, children, marriages, and religious vocations have been consumed and swallowed up.

Let us repent of rebellion before we destroy ourselves completely. Lord, have mercy on us, who are rebels! Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner (Lk 18:13).

Prayer:  Father, send the Holy Spirit to make me docile.

Promise:  "I for My part declare to you, you are 'Rock,' and on this rock I will build My Church, and the jaws of death shall not prevail against it. I will entrust to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven." —Mt 16:18-19

Praise:  St. Edith converted from Judaism to the Catholic Church. She always kept her Jewish people dear to her heart, offering her life to God as a sacrifice for their spiritual welfare.

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Ralph J. Lawrence, February 13, 2001


Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, February 20, 2001