The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 236: Rich in Love (2022)

Episode Date: August 24, 2022

Fr. Mike focuses on the concept of being rich in love instead of rich in wealth today, as we read about the heart of a mother and father in our verse from Proverbs. He also emphasizes the presence of sacrificial love in the vocation of marriage and family through God's decision to keep Jeremiah single, saving him from more suffering. Today's readings are Jeremiah 16-17, Ezekiel 45-46, and Proverbs 15:17-20. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story. Today, it is day 236. Congratulations. I know I might say that more often than I need to, but I have to say, you guys, day 236, that's not a small thing. That's like a

pretty significant thing. And I'm just really proud of you. So we're reading today from Jeremiah chapter 16 and 17, Ezekiel chapter 45 and 46. We're also reading Proverbs 15 verses 17 through 20. As always, the Bible translation that I'm reading from is the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year. You can also subscribe to this podcast in case you didn't, weren't aware of that, didn't know that. It might be a secret, actually something I don't like talking about very often, but I figured it's day 236. I might as well let you in on a secret that you can actually subscribe

to this podcast by clicking on subscribe. And then you get daily updates and you get also a whole host of treats that are completely free. As I said, it's day 236. We're reading Jeremiah 16 and 17, Ezekiel 45 and 46, Proverbs 15 verses 17 through 20. The book of the prophet Jeremiah, chapter 16, Jeremiah's celibacy and message. The word of the Lord came to me, you shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place. For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place and concerning the mothers who bore them and the fathers who begot them in this land, they shall die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried.

They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. They shall perish by the sword and by famine and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth. For thus says the Lord, do not enter the house of mourning, or go to lament, or bemoan them. For I have taken away my peace from this people, says the Lord, my steadfast love and mercy. Both great and small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried, and no one shall lament them, or cut himself, or make himself bald for them. No one shall break bread for the mourner, to comfort him for the dead. Nor shall anyone give him the cup of consolation to drink for his father or his mother. You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I will make to cease from this

place before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. And when you tell this people, all these words, and they say to you, why has the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the Lord, our God? Then you shall say to them, because your fathers have forsaken me, says the Lord, and have gone after other gods and have served and worshiped them and have forsaken me and have not kept my law. And because you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, every one of you follows his stubborn evil will, refusing to listen to me. Therefore, I will hurl you out of this land into a land which neither you nor your fathers have known. And there you shall serve other

gods day and night, for I will show you no favor. God will restore Israel. Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, As the Lord lives who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but as the Lord lives who brought up the sons of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them. For I will bring them back to their own land, which I gave to their fathers. Behold, I am sending for many fishers, says the Lord, and they shall catch them. And afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill and out of the clefts of the rocks.

For my eyes are upon all their ways. They are not hidden from me, nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes. And I will doubly recompense their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols and have filled my inheritance with their abominations. O Lord, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say, Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit. Can man make for himself gods? Such are no gods. Therefore, behold, I will make them know. This once I will make them know my power and my might,

and they shall know that my name is the Lord. Chapter 17. Judah's Sin and Shame. The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron. With a point of diamond, it is engraved on the tablet of their heart and on the horns of their altars, while their children remember their altars and their asherim beside every green tree and on the high hills, on the mountains, in the open country. Your wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your sin throughout all your territory. You shall loosen your hand from your heritage which I gave to you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land which you do not know. For in my anger a fire is kindled which shall burn forever.

Thus says the Lord, Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his arm, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and does not fear when heat comes,

for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt. Who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the mind, and test the heart heart to give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. Like the partridge that gathers a brood which she did not hatch, so is he who gets riches, but not by right. In the midst of his days, they will leave him, and at his end, he will be a fool.

A glorious throne set on high from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary. O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame. Those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water. Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed. Save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise. Behold, they said to me, Where is the word of the Lord? Let it come.

I have not pressed you to send evil, nor have I desired the day of disaster. You know, that which came out of my lips was before your face. Be not a terror to me, you are my refuge in the day of evil. Let those be put to shame who persecute me, but let me not be put to shame. Let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed. Bring upon them the day of evil. Destroy them with double destruction. Thus said the Lord to me, Go and stand in the Benjamin gate, by which the kings of Judah enter, and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. Thus says the Lord, Take heed for the sake of your lives,

and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day, or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath, or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. Yet they did not listen, or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, that they might not hear and receive instruction. But if you listen to me, says the Lord, and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it. Then there shall enter by the gates of this city, kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city shall be inhabited forever. And people shall come from the cities

of Judah and the places round about Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the Shephelah, from the hill country, and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, cereal offerings and frankincense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. But if you do not listen to me to keep the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the places of Jerusalem, and shall not be quenched. The book of the prophet Ezekiel, chapter 45, The Holy District

When you allot the land as a possession, you shall set apart for the Lord a portion of the land as a holy district, 25,000 cubits long and 20,000 cubits broad. It shall be holy throughout its whole extent. Of this, a square plot of 500 and 500 cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with 50 cubits for an open space around it. And in the holy district, you shall measure off a section 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 broad in which shall be the sanctuary, the most holy place. It shall be the holy portion of the land. It shall be for the priests who minister in the sanctuary

and approach the Lord to minister to him. And it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. Another section 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits broad, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple as their possession for cities to live in. Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district, you shall assign for the possession of the city an area 5,000 cubits broad and 25,000 cubits long. It shall belong to the whole house of Israel.

And to the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of the city alongside the holy district and on the property of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions and extending from the western to the eastern boundary of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. the tribal portions and extending from the western to the eastern boundary of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And my princes shall no more oppress my people, but they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes.

Thus says the Lord God, Enough, O princes of Israel. Put away violence and oppression and execute justice and righteousness. Cease your evictions of my people, says the Lord God. Just weights and measures. You shall have just balances, a just ephah and a just bath. The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, the bath containing one-tenth of a homer and the ephah one-tenth of a homer. The homer shall be the standard measure. The shekel shall be twenty gerahs, five shekels shall be five shekels, and ten shekels shall be ten shekels, and your mina shall be fifty shekels. Offerings. This is the offering which you shall make. One-sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and one-sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley, and as the fixed portion of oil, one-tenth of a bath from each core. The core, like the homer of wheat, and one-sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley, and as the fixed portion

of oil, one-tenth of a bath from each core. The core, like the homer, contains ten baths. And one sheep from every flock of two hundred, from the families of Israel. This is the offering for serial offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement for them, says the Lord God. All the people of the land shall give this offering to the prince in Israel. It shall be the prince's duty to furnish the burnt offerings, cereal offerings, and drink offerings at the feasts, the new moons, and the Sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel. He shall provide the sin offerings, cereal offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings to make atonement for the house of Israel.

Thus says the Lord God, In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a young bull without blemish and cleanse the sanctuary. The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and the posts of the gate of the inner court. You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance, so you shall make atonement for the temple. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall celebrate the feast of the Passover, and for seven days unleavened

bread shall be eaten. On that day the priest shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a young bull for a sin offering. And on the seven days of the festival he shall provide as a burnt offering to the Lord seven young bulls and seven rams without blemish on each of the seven days, and a he-goat daily for a sin offering. And he shall provide as a cereal offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a hin of oil to each ephah. In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, and for seven days of the feast, he shall make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, and cereal offerings,

and for the oil. Chapter 46. Other Ordinances of the Temple. Thus says the Lord God, The gate of the inner court that faces east shall be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened. The prince shall enter by the vestibule of the gate from without, and shall take his stand by the post of the gate. The priests shall offer his burnt offerings and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be shut until evening. The people of the land shall worship at the entrance of that gate before the Lord on the Sabbaths and on the new moons. The burnt offering that the prince offers to the Lord on the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish. And the cereal offering with the ram shall be an ephah,

and the cereal offering with the lambs shall be as much as he is able, together with a hin of oil to each ephah. On the day of the new moon he shall offer a young bull without blemish, and six lambs and a ram which shall be without blemish. As a cereal offering he shall provide an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he is able, together with a hin of oil to each ephah. When the prince enters, he shall go in by the vestibule of the gate, and he shall go out by the same way. When the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed feasts, he who

enters by the north gate to worship shall go out by the south gate, and he who enters by the south gate shall go out by the north gate. No one shall return by the way of the gate by which he entered, but each shall go out straight ahead. When they go in, the prince shall go in with them, and when they go out, he shall go out. At the feasts and the appointed seasons, the cereal offering with a young bull shall be an ephah, and with a ram an ephah, and with the lambs as much as one is able to give, together with a hint of oil to an ephah. When the prince provides a freewill offering,

either a burnt offering or a peace offering as a freewill offering to the Lord, the gate facing east shall be opened for him, and he shall offer his burnt offering or his peace offering as he does, the gate facing east shall be opened for him, and he shall offer his burnt offering or his peace offering as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out, the gate shall be shut. He shall provide a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering to the Lord daily, morning by morning he shall provide it. And he shall provide a cereal offering with it, morning by morning, one-sixth of an ephah and one-third of a hin of oil to moisten the flour as a cereal offering

to the Lord. This is the ordinance for the continual burnt offering. Thus the lamb and the meal offering and the oil shall be provided morning by morning for a continual burnt offering. Thus says the Lord God, if the prince makes a gift to any of his sons out of his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons. It is their property by inheritance. But if he makes a gift out of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty. Then it shall revert to the prince. Only his sons may keep a gift from his inheritance. The prince shall not take any of the inheritance of the people, thrusting them out of their property. He shall give his sons their inheritance

out of his own property, so that none of the people shall be dispossessed of his property. Then he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, to the north row of the holy chambers for the priests. And there I saw a place at the extreme western end of them. And he said to me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the cereal offering, in order not to bring them out into the outer court, and so communicate holiness to the people. Then he brought me forth to the outer court, and led me to the four corners of the court. And in each corner of the court there was a court. In the four corners of the court were small courts, forty cubits long and thirty broad, and four were of the same size. On the inside, around each of the four courts, was a row of

masonry, with hearths made at the bottom of the rows round about. Then he said to me, These are the kitchens where those who minister at the temple shall boil the sacrifices of the people. Proverbs chapter 15 verses 17 through 20. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fatted ox and hatred with it. A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention. The way of a sluggard is overgrown with thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway. A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother. Father in heaven, we give you praise and glory glory thank you so much for this opportunity thank

you for bringing us today 236 what a gift that you are what a gift each day gosh lord this entire time the all every one of these days none of them are days we deserve every one of them is a day that you have given to us as a free gift and all you ask is that we simply receive it. All you ask is that we receive it with gratitude and thanksgiving, knowing that none of these days is anything that any of us have ever deserved. And so you simply ask us to receive it. And then on top of receiving it, to use it just for your glory, to say yes to you, to say yes to your gift and, and to receive this gift that you may be glorified and to use this gift that your children might be helped, helped and loved and cared for. And so please Lord God, help us to receive this day as your gift, um, days of

difficulty and days of blessing, but also help us to use this day. Help us to use this difficulty that comes with today so that those around us who are carrying heavy burdens might carry a little bit lighter burdens because of us. Help us to glorify you. Help us to lift up our brothers and sisters. Help us to let you love us and help us to love you in return. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen. So as I said before, I mean, so many times, gosh, Proverbs chapter 15, verses 17 and verse 20 are, I mean, they're all great, obviously. It's God's word. But here's 17.

Better is a dinner of herbs, or not herb, or herbs, herbs where love is than a fatted ox and hatred with it. So that sense of like, here's a dinner of herbs, herbs where love is than a fatted ox and hatred with it. So that sense of like, here's a dinner of herbs, right? So just basically it's just, you got a salad. That's it. That is dinner. That's just salad. It's just vegetables than a fatted ox and hatred where love is. That difference being not in the material goods, although material goods are real, right? They're still goods, but a dinner of a salad with love than fat dogs with hatred. And that's just so, isn't that real? How many times have we heard of stories of people who are incredibly, amazingly successful, just incredibly wealthy, and yet inside their relationships, you know, in their own hearts, everything's falling apart. And that's not for us to rejoice in the fact that, well,

it serves them right, you know, for being wealthy. That's not true. That's not accurate. But we realize that there are some things that are, I mean, a lot of goods in this world and material goods are goods, but there are better goods, right? There are things like love. There's things like family. There's things like peace and joy and in having the Lord, you know, having faith in God. So better to be someone who's poor, who has faith and hope and love than someone who's incredibly wealthy and has none of those things. And then also in Proverbs 15 verse 20, a wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother. And, you know, both, both moms and dads are represented in this proverb and represented well, right? Because we recognize that wise children bring glory, you know, the joy of fathers and mothers, but that foolishness, that foolishness despises his mother and also

makes her, makes her weep. I remember years ago, maybe I've shared this before, but I know years ago, my mom, she once went to a talk. It was, my dad had some, you know, some professional training to extra to do to get his hours in for the, for the year. And so my mom would sometimes go with him. And at one point, Dr. Patch Adams, if you remember that movie with Robin Williams, real person and Dr. Patch Adams was giving a talk to the spouses of these people. And, uh, and my mom, he, he said something to her that stuck with her and she passed it on to me.

And I just, he said, you're only as happy as your least happy child. You're only as happy as your least happy child. And my mom was like, oh my gosh, that's completely true. My mom has, you know, six kids and, and I have five siblings. So I'm one of those people. I'm one of the six. And that reality, of course, that, you know, five of us can be doing really, really well. And if that one person struggling, you know, the heart of a mom, the heart of a dad is grieved. It can be so

easily grieved. Only as happy as your least happy child, which goes back to our first reading today, Jeremiah chapter 16. In Jeremiah 16, what happens? God made it clear to Jeremiah that he was not to have a wife. God made it very clear to Jeremiah that he would not have a wife and he wouldn't have kids. And the reason being because of this grief, because of the reality that, that gosh, those men and women who have been called to the sacrament of marriage and the family, right? You've been called to the vocation of marriage and family. You know what a gift it is. I mean, honestly, what an incredible gift it is to be called to be a husband or a wife, to be a father, to be a mother. At the same time, you know, the great cost of this gift, you know, that this gift comes with it.

There's a price that comes with it. And, and those, you, those of you who are husbands and wives, moms and dads, you know, grandmas and grandpas, you know, that it costs something that it, that it, it costs you a lot to love so deeply. It costs to love your spouse when your spouse, you know, isn't very lovely. And it costs to love your children when your children are in pain. And so that's one of the things that God says, hey, Jeremiah, I'm going to spare you this. You're going to not be married so that you can be spared this pain because destruction

is coming upon Jerusalem. And yeah, I want you to be a sign to the people that in this case, it'd be better to not be parents. You know, obviously that's a momentary sign, right? It's not better. It is in this case, a momentary sign for Jeremiah that pain is coming and pain is real. But then even in that same chapter, this is incredible. In that same chapter, chapter 16, it's one of the most, I love this verse. God says he's going to restore Israel. He says, therefore, behold, the days are coming. This is after the destruction, right? After all this horrible brokenness, he says, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when it shall no

longer be said as the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt. You remember, that's what's, I mean, how many times in 236 days have we heard God's words say, hey, teach to your children what God has done for them. Teach to your children that he has set us free from slavery in Egypt. This is what you need to repeat again and again. And here is Jeremiah saying, the days are coming when it will no longer be said, as the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but, but as the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but, but as the Lord lives, who brought up

the sons of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them, for I will bring them back to their own land, which I gave to their fathers. Basically, the days are coming when you don't just have to point to the past redemption and rescue of the people of Israel from Egypt. The days are going to come when you yourselves will be rescued and redeemed from Babylon and from all the lands, all the countries that you were exiled. Because this is what's happening, right? Jeremiah knows what he's staring down the barrel at this exile that's happening, but he's also staring down the barrel and God is going to do something remarkable, incredible

so that you don't just have to look back to what God did for our ancestors, but here's what God did for me. And that is just incredible, right? It's just so, so powerful. We go on to chapter 17, Judah's sin and shame. And what is that? His sin and shame is exactly what we've heard before, which is you trust in anything other than God, trust in anything other than God. Chapter 17, verse five, thus says the Lord, cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his arm, whose heart is

turned away from the Lord, right? There's no promise. There's no power there, but going on to say in chapter 17, verse seven, but blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord. And I love this because this is a repeated theme. It's even Psalm number one, as well as other places where it says that person is like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. Doesn't fear when heat comes for its leaves remain green. It is not even anxious in the year of drought. Why? Because it's planted in the right place.

And this is for all of us. That need we have to be planted in the right place, to trust in the Lord God as the source of our life. Because so many of us, right? We're tempted to put our trust in anything else other than God. Last two things here. Just last two things. One is in Jeremiah, and then we'll jump over to Ezekiel just really briefly. In Jeremiah, the last thing we have is God saying, making it very, very clear that you must not bear

a burden. This is through the prophet Jeremiah, right? You must not bear a burden on the Sabbath. You must rest on the Sabbath. And it says, when you do this, then Messiah will come. That when you do this, the king is going to be back in place. The one you're waiting for is going to reign. And you recognize, again, I've said this before, but it's so important when we actually see the context for later on the Pharisees, who are gonna look at the people that here's Jesus, who has the man who's lying on the mat

and Jesus heals him and says, take up your mat and go home. And the Pharisees see this and they say, why are you carrying your mat on the Sabbath day? And we can look at that as, you know, 21st century Christians and say, gosh, those Pharisees were way out of control. Well, in Jeremiah, Jeremiah makes it very good. The word of the Lord makes it so clear. What? It makes it so clear that when that day comes, when people don't carry a burden on the Sabbath, when they enter into rest on the Sabbath, then the Messiah is going to come. And so it was so confusing, right, to the Pharisees that, wait a second, this person who we think might actually be the Messiah, people are saying

might be the Messiah, told someone to carry a burden on the Sabbath. And so you can recognize, look, we can be a little more sympathetic, maybe a little more empathetic, a little more patient with the Pharisees. But last thing is in Ezekiel, we have the temple and just, we're coming to the last chapters in Ezekiel. Actually tomorrow is our last day for the last two chapters of Ezekiel, which has been just an incredible gift to be able to walk with this, this incredible prophet from the beginning. But as he sees the temple, what happens?

He says, well, there's so many visions, There's so many deep things here, but it says those who entered the temple through the North will exit through the South. And those who enter through the South will exit through the North. And part of that is when you come in to the Lord's presence and you give him the worship that he deserves, you can't just go back the same way you came. You can't remain the same as you were before you offered him worship, before you offered him the sacrifice. It has to change you. And that's something so powerful for every one of us as we come to mass and just realize that I can never, ever, ever go home the way I arrived. That the whole point of this is not just to give God glory and that he may be glorified, he may be known, might be exalted and worshiped and praised, but also that we might be changed, that we might be transformed and that we might

be different. And so we make that decision as well, that we want to never, ever leave worship the way we arrived in worship. And in order to do that, we need God's grace because we can't just change ourselves. We need his help to change us. And so we keep praying for each other. I am praying for you. Please pray for me.

My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.