Tuesday Audust 4, 2009

Tuesday August 4, 2009 0f the 18th Week in Ordinary Time
Numbers 12: 1-13 Psalm 51: 3-7, 12-13 Matthew 14: 22-26
Psalm Response: “Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned”

Miriam and Aaron, Moses’ brother and sister, showed signs of jealousy at Moses’ ability to speak to God, which they, also of the tribe of Levi, seemed, to them, somewhat prejudiced. They were faithful to God’s commands but Moses had married an Egyptian woman and they thought it was enough to make him unclean while they were sinless.
When they expressed their discontent, God called them aside and rebuked them for their lack of compassion. After all when things didn’t go right with them, the people railed particularly against Moses and God.
God points out to Marion and Aaron although He speaks to His selected prophets in dreams and visions, Moses is special and they converse as you and I would. God’s wrath enveloped Marion with pallor of leprosy. Moses pleaded with God to take this scourge away from his sister.

Psalm 51 is a lament to God for His infinite mercy. It is a logical follow up to the former words of Numbers, just read. It is the prayer of David when he sinned against Uriah, his wife Bathsheba and God by his sneaky plan to have Uriah murdered by putting him in the front lines of battle.

In a demonstration of His Divinity, after He prayed alone on the mountain top, He saw His disciples in peril as the wind and rough seas threatened their lives.
Jesus began to walk toward them on the water. When they spotted Him they thought it was a ghost for men could not walk on water.
When He made them realize it was He, they were relieved but still skeptical. Peter, in order to satisfy his curiosity asked the Lord to allow him to also transverse on top of the water. Everything was going well when Peter realized what he was being permitted to do and his faith sank along with himself.
We do like Peter when we do not allow God to intercede for us in a difficulty, by losing faith or exhibiting a tendency to disbelieve. We need to recognize God’s Divinity and allow Him to act in our lives as we ask. If our faith falters, we are the ones who will suffer unnecessarily.