Memory of the Mother of the Lord
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Deuteronomy 31,1-8
Moses went and spoke to all Israel as follows, 'Today, I am one hundred and twenty years old, and can no longer act as leader. Yahweh has told me, "You shall not cross this Jordan." Yahweh your God himself will lead you across, he himself will destroy and dispossess these nations confronting you; Joshua too will lead you across, as Yahweh has said. Yahweh will treat them as he has treated Sihon and Og the Amorite kings and their country -- he destroyed them. Yahweh will put them at your mercy, and you will deal with them exactly as prescribed by the commandments which I have laid down for you. Be strong, stand firm, have no fear, do not be afraid of them, for Yahweh your God is going with you; he will not fail you or desert you.' Moses then summoned Joshua and, in the presence of all Israel, said to him, 'Be strong, stand firm; you will be the one to go with this people into the country which Yahweh has sworn to their ancestors that he would give them; you are to be the one who puts them into possession of it. Yahweh himself will lead you; he will be with you; he will not fail you or desert you. Have no fear, do not be alarmed.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Moses is truly the man of God. Everything he did was always in obedience to the Lord, who led him in the deliverance of his people from slavery in Egypt. Those who listen to God also loves his people, because to bind one's life to the Lord means to love and defend his own, those whom he chooses and in so many ways entrusts to us. To lead the Lord's people to the promised land, Moses faced the harshness of the desert, the fear of the Egyptian army, the unbelief of his people, their choice to make idols, the bitterness of nostalgia. He always continued to lead the people because he never ceased to listen to God and to obey his law first. He came close to the promised land, but did not enter it. The Lord had foretold it to him. Moses does not despair, he does not claim something for himself, he does not claim the role or some right. He will not possess that land for which he had gone the whole way. At the end of his life, Jesus indicates a beatitude for believers: blessed are those who, though they have not seen, will believe. Those who believe already have everything! Moses always believed the promise of the Lord. He does not need to possess it. He knows that everything is his gift and that God himself will lead his people. Often people mistake gift for possession, they tie what is asked of them to their own person, they get caught up in protagonism that ends up tying everything to themselves. Moses asks his people to continue trusting God, to face the new challenges. Joshua will lead the people. But always because the Lord is before him on the way. Moses' strong serenity, his freedom from possession, which so many conditions the lives and choices of disciples and men, make him a true believer.