Lenten Devotional (26) & the Mode of Baptism
God is never divorced from the people he redeems and the house he saves.
The Book of Ruth is saturated with symbols. Bethlehem is a picture of the Church, and Moab is a picture of the world. When Elimelech leaves Bethlehem–the house of bread–and goes to Moab, he leaves the Lord God and the covenant promises.
“So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab.”
Bethlehem is the land where God’s name dwells. No matter how difficult it may be, there is no refuge apart from God’s presence. In the Old Covenant, God chose to dwell in particular places. To leave such places, no matter how dire the problems, is to leave God himself.
God is never divorced from the people he redeems and the house he saves. In fact, he invites us to stay in Bethlehem (the house of bread), where goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life.
Prayer: O great God, we too often seek the houses of sin instead of the house of bread. We threaten to leave your presence at the first sign of discomfort. Do not let us run to false houses in times of trial, but to sit at your right hand forevermore, through Christ our Lord, Amen.
Notations
Rafe Heydel-Mankoo offers a stunning critique of the call for reparations in England. Cambridge’s students are at a loss amid a flood of facts. He also argues, by implication, that colonialism has provided great prosperity. Notably, his observation at the end that the British ended some of the most barbaric practices known to men offers a stark contrast to the woke ideologies that act in moral outrage without any data to defend their claims. These are 12 worthy minutes! I commend it to you.
On a similar note, I also encourage you to watch this disturbing video of a father preserving his family by keeping calm against the racial attacks of a disturbed man. Some may criticize this father for being passive, but I applaud him for using silence as a protecting virtue. The principle of not answering a fool is meant for moments such as these (Prov. 26:4). He had everything to lose by aggression, but he chose his wife and child over the potential damage of responding. The racist bully was looking for a reason to use physical violence, and the man did not give him one.
Here is a little clip that the American Moment spliced. I discuss the Fauci priesthood during COVID.
I was only a kid in 2009, but my interview with Rev. Steven Wedgeworth on Eastern Orthodoxy has recently picked up a lot of steam. So, here is the three-part interview for free on wordmp3.com.
From Sunday’s exhortation:
God often takes us out of our homes to do difficult things. If Adam had never sinned, we would have stayed comfortably in our homes without a care in the world, just watering our plants, harvesting the vineyard, and playing with lions, tigers, and bears. But now there are yards to mow, thorns and thistles to wrestle, diapers to change, and relationships to engage.
My overview of why we pour water in baptism is now available for free.
Nuntium
I am writing from Tampa Bay, Fl. surprising my mom at her citizenship ceremony. This is a quick trip, but symbolic of her victory. She has been a fighter for a long time, and after ten years, she is becoming an American citizen.
Uriesou Brito