July 2025

Today is our final reading from the Book of Exodus. Tomorrow we will move on to the Book of Leviticus.  In passages immediately preceding today’s readings, God has been giving instructions on how his sanctuary is to be furnished and adorned. In today’s reading (Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38) we see these instructions being implemented. On the […]

What if? What if you found the “pearl of great price?”  What would you do?  What if you found a treasure hidden in a field or in an attic or under a mattress?  What if God spoke to you directly, gave you instructions for your family, for your community, for your church? This is the

Today’s readings emphasize the dichotomy of forgiveness and consequences.  The first reading from Exodus (Exodus 33:7-11; 34:5-9, 28) tells of the conversations between Moses and God, while in the Gospel (Matthew 13:36-43), Jesus reveals the meaning of the Sower and the seeds and weeds. The passage from Exodus is very powerful as it tells us

Before we look at today’s first reading (Exodus 32:15-24, 30-34), we need to understand the context in which it takes place.  We have skipped several chapters in which God gives detailed instructions to Moses on the design and furnishings of a mobile sanctuary that will accompany the Israelites on their journey to the Promised Land.

Today’s Old Testament reading (Genesis 18:20-32) is the amazing story of Abraham’s prayer for Sodom (really for his nephew Lot and his family). The scene is an amazing revelation of the faith of one man in the justice of Almighty God and an incredible boldness of a mere human before the Creator of the Universe. 

The giving of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai is followed in the Book of Exodus by the Book of the Covenant, a list of ordinances and laws concerning subjects like the treatment of slaves, murder and injury, theft of animals, matters demanding compensation, duties towards enemies, the sabbath and great feasts. Today’s reading (Exodus

Yesterday, God invited Moses and his brother, Aaron, to meet with Him on Mount Sinai.  What follows in our reading today (Exodus 20:1-17), is God presenting the core of what is now known as the Mosaic Law:  The Ten Commandments and the Book of the Covenant.   Between the two, Jews recognize 613 commandments, not

In today’s Old Testament reading (Exodus 19:1-2, 9-11, 16-20) we begin hearing the story of Moses’ second great encounter with God at Mount Sinai.  It is now three months since the Israelites left Egypt and the Israelites set up camp at the base of the mountain that towers above the surrounding plain.    The second

The First Reading (Exodus 16:1-5, 9-15) takes place just one month after the Exodus from Egypt.  By now the food bought by the Israelites when they left Egypt is exhausted.  They begin to complain to Moses that when they were slaves in Egypt, they had food to eat, but now they are not sure from

Exodus 14 Have you ever felt trapped between an impenetrable obstacle before you and an implacable enemy behind you, with nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and no apparent way of escape? If so, then you know how the ancient Israelites felt in this week’s Old Testament readings after they escaped slavery in Egypt only