We do not have to fear because we have a powerful ally, the Lord our God Himself, who goes ahead of us in our battles, in our challenges. He clears a path for us because of His great love for us. For we are His beloved children.
Being obedient and remaining as His beloved children, we must also see that our dearest brothers and sisters are also His beloved children. And He expects that we care and watch over His children, our brethren. We must have the heart of a child, a child who knows who his father is, a child who knows the motherly love, of God, our Heavenly Father.
He cares for each and every one of His children with His very being. And we, likewise, must care for one another. That is why we must never forget the commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ, that we must love one another just as He loved us. Amen.
Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, Pray for us…
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Joshua shall cross the Jordan at your head
Moses proceeded to address these words to the whole of Israel, ‘I am one hundred and twenty years old now, and can no longer come and go as I will. The Lord has said to me, “You shall not cross this Jordan.” It is the Lord your God who will cross it at your head to destroy these nations facing you and dispossess them; and Joshua too shall cross at your head, as the Lord has said. The Lord will treat them as he treated Sihon and Og the Amorite kings and their land, destroying them. The Lord will hand them over to you, and you will deal with them in exact accordance with the commandments I have enjoined on you. Be strong, stand firm, have no fear of them, no terror, for the Lord your God is going with you; he will not fail you or desert you.’
Then Moses summoned Joshua and in the presence of all Israel said to him, ‘Be strong, stand firm; you are going with this people into the land the Lord swore to their fathers he would give them; you are to give it into their possession. The Lord himself will lead you; he will be with you; he will not fail you or desert you. Have no fear, do not be disheartened by anything.’
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First reading
Deuteronomy 31:1-8
Gospel
Matthew 18:1-5,10,12-14
Anyone who welcomes a little child in my name welcomes me
The disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ So he called a little child to him and set the child in front of them. Then he said, ‘I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
‘Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.
‘See that you never despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven.
‘Tell me. Suppose a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays; will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the stray? I tell you solemnly, if he finds it, it gives him more joy than do the ninety-nine that did not stray at all. Similarly, it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.’
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