Deuteronomy 10: 12-22
Moses said to the people: "And now, Israel, what does the LORD, your God, ask of you but to fear the LORD, your God, and follow his ways exactly, to love and serve the LORD, your God, with all your heart and all your soul, to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD which I enjoin on you today for your own good? Think! The heavens, even the highest heavens, belong to the LORD, your God, as well as the earth and everything on it. Yet in his love for your fathers the LORD was so attached to them as to choose you, their descendants, in preference to all other peoples, as indeed he has now done. Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and be no longer stiff-necked. For the LORD, your God, is the God of gods, the LORD of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who has no favorites, accepts no bribes; who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and befriends the alien, feeding and clothing him. So you too must befriend the alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt. The LORD, your God, shall you fear, and him shall you serve; hold fast to him and swear by his name. He is your glory, he, your God, who has done for you those great and terrible things which your own eyes have seen. Your ancestors went down to Egypt seventy strong, and now the LORD, your God, has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky."
Dawg's thought:
Today's prayer intention is for the safety of those who risk their lives leaving oppression as they enter this country.
It's funny how unmerciful we can be to ourselves and our neighbor. Well, it's not funny at all.
We are fortunate to live in a country with an abundance of resources. We are fortunate to live in a country where our lives are not threatened. We are fortunate to live in a country that is so well protected.
Are we really fortunate?
Although we are one of the most thriving nations in the world, we also exemplify true poverty. We are unmerciful to our neighbors who enter this country who need to find work to feed their families. We would rather have the neighbors who spend their money and go home after a few weeks. Those are the neighbors we love. We don't love the neighbors who are in need; we want the neighbors who fulfill our needs.
Yet, it is the neighbors that allow us to grow in compassion that truly fulfills our need. It is our neighbors that teach us how to be merciful and loving in our own poverty that give us the true gift. It is they who truly bring us out of our poverty.
Brothers and sisters, let us pray that as a nation we can be merciful to our neighbors and as a people of God we can be merciful to our own neighbors. Take care and God Bless.
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