Living in The Now

Moses before the Burning Bush met the God of the Present Moment. Moses was caught up into Eternity. He met the God Who Is, Who Was, and Who Always Will Be.

Moses learned to live in the present moment by completely trusting in God. Once, he failed, by striking the rock three times, out of a lack of trust. For this sin, he was denied entrance into the Promised Land.

So, it is with us. Our Promised Land is heaven.

Years ago on this blog, I wrote about living in the present. This idea comes from two main authors, Brother Lawrence, about whom I wrote a few weeks ago, and the excellent book by Jean Pierre de Caussade, Abandonment to Divine Providence.

Without repeating myself too much, I can say that to live in the present moment is the true way of the Christian. To live in the past makes one fall into the sin of sentimentality, and to live in the future leads to the sin of presumption.

All we have is the now, and in this moment, we live in the Presence of God, or we remove ourselves from that presence by seriously sinning, and by living in sin.

This living in the Presence of God is totally our own decision. We can either live trying to manipulate our lives, our environment, our spouses, our families, our friends, our mates at work, or we can live in the Presence of God , with a freedom which leaves manipulation behind.

The reason I am revisiting this point is that in the past six months here in America, I have, perhaps, met more narcissists and deniers than I have in years past.

Narcissists attempt to manipulate everyone and all facets of their environment, because they are the center of their universe. Deniers, those who are caught up in self-deceit, also attempt to control their own lives, and those lives around them.

Such people live in disdain for others, totally lacking in love, and, frequently, living a life of anger.

Angry people seem to be those who have not given their lives to God, but want total control. Anger can bubble up out of craven fear, or pride, or both.

God demands that we live in the now. Why? Because He is ever-present. He is eternal and for Him there is no past and no future.

The closer one becomes to God, the better one is able to live in the present moment, trusting in His Divine Providence daily.

A friend of mine has a favorite phrase, "God is Large and in charge." That phrase pretty well sums up living in the present moment.

St. Teresa of Avila noted that those who do not trust in God insult Him.

God, please give me and all my readers the grace of trust in you, in Divine Providence, the grace of living in the present moment.

That is all we really have.

Years ago, my son said to me that he did not know anyone who lived more in the present moment than me. I was surprised that my son noticed this, as when I first discovered Brother Lawrence in the early 1970s and Caussade in th early 1980s, I attempted to learn this lesson of living in the now.

Cancer brought this home to me in 2009. All I had was the moment, as the past bodily harmony and unity was gone, and the future could have been death.

One treasures each moment when one faces death.

Let us all live in the present moment and rejoice in the life of this sacred time, which is the now.

Looking back over and over again is a symptom of gross pride, as one wants to play God and pretend one has not sinned. Looking constantly in the future is the avoidance of the present suffering which God offers one.

Let us not fall into sin either through pride, or through fear. Too many people honestly believe that they are in control of their lives. No, God is, from birth until death.

Let us all live in the Now, Which is God.

"I am Who am."

The Great I Am Passages

Those of you who read and study Scripture know about the great "I Am" passages in the New Testament which riled the feathers of the Sanhedrin. There are eight, a number of completion after the holy number of seven, of these in John's Gospel and today we see Christ claiming, rightly, to be God. Here these verses are for your reference:

John 6: 35, 48 I am the bread of life John 8: 12, 9:5 I am the light of the world John 8: 58 Before Abraham was, I am John 10:9 I am the door John 10:11 I am the good shepherd John 11:25 I am the resurrection and the life John 14:6 I am the way, the truth, and the life John 15:1 I am the true vine 

Today, Christ tells us unequivocally, that He is God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Son of God. Those religions which deny that Christ is God, do not accept this passage, obviously.

Christ is either a liar, or a madman or really God, states C. S. Lewis, and I paraphrase.

We are faced with a choice today. Do we really believe in Christ as God, and take all His actions and words seriously, or, like some of the Jews of His day, reject the "I Am" statements?

The Jews wanted to kill Christ as they knew He was referring to the great epiphany to Moses--I Am.

Those who wanted to stone Christ for blasphemy were closed to the great I AM.

Exodus 3 Douay-Rheims 

3 Now Moses fed the sheep of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Madian: and he drove the flock to the inner parts of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, Horeb.

2 And the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he saw that the bush was on fire and was not burnt.

3 And Moses said: I will go and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.

4 And when the Lord saw that he went forward to see, he called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said: Moses, Moses. And he answered: Here I am.

5 And he said: Come not nigh hither, put off the shoes from thy feet: for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

6 And he said: I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Moses hid his face: for he durst not look at God.

7 And the Lord said to him: I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of the rigour of them that are over the works:

8 And knowing their sorrow, I am come down to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of that land into a good and spacious land, into a land that floweth with milk and honey, to the places of the Chanaanite, and Hethite, and Amorrhite, and Pherezite, and Hevite, and Jebusite.

9 For the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have seen their affliction, wherewith they are oppressed by the Egyptians.

10 But come, and I will send thee to Pharao, that thou mayst bring forth my people, the children of Israel out of Egypt.

11 And Moses said to God: Who am I that I should go to Pharao, and should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?

12 And he said to him: I will be with thee: and this thou shalt have for a sign, that I have sent thee: When thou shalt have brought my people out of Egypt, thou shalt offer sacrifice to God upon this mountain.

13 Moses said to God: Lo, I shall go to the children of Israel, and say to them: The God of your fathers hath sent me to you. If they should say to me: What is his name? what shall I say to them?

14 God said to Moses: I AM WHO AM. He said: Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: HE WHO IS, hath sent me to you.

15 And God said again to Moses: Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me to you: This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

Christ reveals Himself as the Everlasting God, pointing to the Trinity, and referring back to the freeing of the Hebrews from slavery. Christ is getting His listeners ready for the real freedom from the slavery of satan, the rule of Original Sin, the life of sin, and everlasting death.

But, these people were not open to hearing these words of truth from The Word of God. A long time ago, a rabbi told me in London, that the Jewish unspoken word for the Name of God means this, "I Am Who Am and shut up and stop asking me."

The point is that God gives us absolute knowledge of Him through the Revelation of the Old Testament and for us Christians, the New Testament. We have been told Who Christ Is.

We accept Christ as our Lord, Saviour, King, or we reject Him.

John 8:51-59Douay-Rheims 

51 Amen, amen I say to you: If any man keep my word, he shall not see death for ever.

52 The Jews therefore said: Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest: If any man keep my word, he shall not taste death for ever.

53 Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? and the prophets are dead. Whom dost thou make thyself?

54 Jesus answered: If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father that glorifieth me, of whom you say that he is your God.

55 And you have not known him, but I know him. And if I shall say that I know him not, I shall be like to you, a liar. But I do know him, and do keep his word.

56 Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day: he saw it, and was glad.

57 The Jews therefore said to him: Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?

58 Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say to you, before Abraham was made, I am.

59 They took up stones therefore to cast at him. But Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.

Dark Night Posts Resuming

Well, it seems I cannot move away from this subject. And, I have amazed myself at all the Dark Night postings. I shall put SOME of the links in this post at the end.

Someone asked me if the Dark Night was marked by a feeling of spiritual emptiness.

Yes, yes, yes.

But, why?

St. John of the Cross gives us several reasons and I shall try and share a few points. Some of this is repetition.

Firstly, we are creatures who rely too much on our senses, even with regard to spiritual things. We crave consolations, and the stroking of our feelings and imaginations in prayer.  Without this purgation of the senses, the first part of the Dark Night, we shall not meet God as He really is.

We need to be separated from habits of self and relying on the senses. This means that God calls us into the desert, and a desert has few colors, few delights.

St. John writes this:

IT now remains to be said that, although this happy night brings darkness to the spirit, it does so only to give it light in everything; and that, although it humbles it and makes it miserable, it does so only to exalt it and to raise it up; and, although it impoverishes it and empties it of all natural affection and attachment, it does so only that it may enable it to stretch forward, divinely, and thus to have fruition and experience of all things, both above and below, yet to preserve its unrestricted liberty of spirit in them all. For just as the elements, in order that they may have a part in all natural entities and compounds, must have no particular colour, odour or taste, so as to be able to combine with all tastes odours and colours, just so must the spirit be simple, pure and detached from all kinds of natural affection, whether actual or habitual, to the end that it may be able freely to share in the breadth of spirit of the Divine Wisdom, wherein, through its purity, it has experience of all the sweetness of all things in a certain pre-eminently excellent way.144And without this purgation it will be wholly unable to feel or experience the satisfaction of all this abundance of spiritual sweetness. For one single affection remaining in the spirit, or one particular thing to which, actually or habitually, it clings, suffices to hinder it from feeling or experiencing or communicating the delicacy and intimate sweetness of the spirit of love, which contains within itself all sweetness to a most eminent degree.145

Remember the flesh pots of Egypt about which I have written here? These fleshpots, which were the memories of good food and comforts even under slavery, kept interfering with the minds and heart of the Israelites.

They were remembering sensual pleasures and comfort in the midst of the long walk around Sinai. This may seem normal to us, but remember also, that we cannot approach God with our imaginations and selves full of the ego and full of memory.

 The reason for this is that the affections, feelings and apprehensions of the perfect spirit, being Divine, are of another kind and of a very different order from those that are natural. They are pre-eminent, so that, in order both actually and habitually to possess the one, it is needful to expel and annihilate the other, as with two contrary things, which cannot exist together in one person. Therefore it is most fitting and necessary, if the soul is to pass to these great things, that this dark night of contemplation should first of all annihilate and undo it in its meannesses, bringing it into darkness, aridity, affliction and emptiness; for the light which is to be given to it is a Divine light of the highest kind, which transcends all natural light, and which by nature can find no place in the understanding.

Note that the Dark Night undoes sensual and spiritual bad habits, concupiscence and finally, even venial sin. 

The darkness, aridity, affliction and emptiness are all to be expected in the Dark Night.

Without this preparation, we are simply not holy enough to see God as He really is and to appreciate the opening up of the life of virtues which He wants to do in us.

To be continued...and more Dark Night posts.

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/again-on-dark-night.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/dark-night-and-grace.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/on-rational-in-dark-night.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/more-on-dark-night-in-november.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/on-god-disciplining-his-people.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/on-desert-god.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/second-poem-revealing-dark-night.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/one-of-two-poems-revealing-dark-night.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/keeping-goal-in-mind-in-dark-night.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/on-dark-night-againseries-continued-on.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/what-is-detachment-from-venial-sin.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-dark-night-post.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/10/re-post-from-august-on-dark-night.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/10/dark-night-discussion.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-fear-of-being-loved-and-dark-night.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-strength-of-love-in-dark-night.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/10/purgatory-or-dark-night.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-end-of-beginning-of-dark-night-and.html

And, there are more....

Presumption Part Two: Reason

The glorious teaching of the Catholic Church shows us that we all have the gift of reason. The CCC is, again, a good place to start. As humans, we have free will and reason, two of the ways in which we have been created in the image and likeness of God.

II. WAYS OF COMING TO KNOW GOD
31 Created in God's image and called to know and love him, the person who seeks God discovers certain ways of coming to know him. These are also called proofs for the existence of God, not in the sense of proofs in the natural sciences, but rather in the sense of "converging and convincing arguments", which allow us to attain certainty about the truth. These "ways" of approaching God from creation have a twofold point of departure: the physical world, and the human person.
32 The world: starting from movement, becoming, contingency, and the world's order and beauty, one can come to a knowledge of God as the origin and the end of the universe.

As St. Paul says of the Gentiles: For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made.⁷

And St. Augustine issues this challenge: Question the beauty of the earth, question the beauty of the sea, question the beauty of the air distending and diffusing itself, question the beauty of the sky. . . question all these realities. All respond: "See, we are beautiful." Their beauty is a profession [confessio]. These beauties are subject to change. Who made them if not the Beautiful One [Pulcher] who is not subject to change?⁸

^{One of the huge problems is the lack of reflection among the young. When do they stop their stampede towards pleasure in order to think about life, God, the universe...as it were......}

33 The human person: with his openness to truth and beauty, his sense of moral goodness, his freedom and the voice of his conscience, with his longings for the infinite and for happiness, man questions himself about God's existence. In all this he discerns signs of his spiritual soul. The soul, the "seed of eternity we bear in ourselves, irreducible to the merely material",⁹ can have its origin only in God.
34 The world, and man, attest that they contain within themselves neither their first principle nor their final end, but rather that they participate in Being itself, which alone is without origin or end. Thus, in different ways, man can come to know that there exists a reality which is the first cause and final end of all things, a reality "that everyone calls God".¹⁰
35 Man's faculties make him capable of coming to a knowledge of the existence of a personal God. But for man to be able to enter into real intimacy with him, God willed both to reveal himself to man and to give him the grace of being able to welcome this revelation in faith. The proofs of God's existence, however, can predispose one to faith and help one to see that faith is not opposed to reason.

Section 33 is important for this discussion. All humans have reason and therefore a sense of goodness and a conscience. Reason separates us from the other animals which only have instincts. 

One of the gravest false teachings of the day is the denial of reason. Reasonable people can come to know God and be open to more knowledge which God has given us in revelation.

Reason and revelation form our faith. Here is the CCC again.

III. THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD ACCORDING TO THE CHURCH
36 "Our holy mother, the Church, holds and teaches that God, the first principle and last end of all things, can be known with certainty from the created world by the natural light of human reason."¹¹ Without this capacity, man would not be able to welcome God's revelation. Man has this capacity because he is created "in the image of God".¹²
37 In the historical conditions in which he finds himself, however, man experiences many difficulties in coming to know God by the light of reason alone:

Though human reason is, strictly speaking, truly capable by its own natural power and light of attaining to a true and certain knowledge of the one personal God, who watches over and controls the world by his providence, and of the natural law written in our hearts by the Creator; yet there are many obstacles which prevent reason from the effective and fruitful use of this inborn faculty. For the truths that concern the relations between God and man wholly transcend the visible order of things, and, if they are translated into human action and influence it, they call for self-surrender and abnegation. The human mind, in its turn, is hampered in the attaining of such truths, not only by the impact of the senses and the imagination, but also by disordered appetites which are the consequences of original sin. So it happens that men in such matters easily persuade themselves that what they would not like to be true is false or at least doubtful.¹³

38 This is why man stands in need of being enlightened by God's revelation, not only about those things that exceed his understanding, but also "about those religious and moral truths which of themselves are not beyond the grasp of human reason, so that even in the present condition of the human race, they can be known by all men with ease, with firm certainty and with no admixture of error". ¹⁴
IV. HOW CAN WE SPEAK ABOUT GOD?
39 In defending the ability of human reason to know God, the Church is expressing her confidence in the possibility of speaking about him to all men and with all men, and therefore of dialogue with other religions, with philosophy and science, as well as with unbelievers and atheists.
40 Since our knowledge of God is limited, our language about him is equally so. We can name God only by taking creatures as our starting point, and in accordance with our limited human ways of knowing and thinking.

41 All creatures bear a certain resemblance to God, most especially man, created in the image and likeness of God. The manifold perfections of creatures - their truth, their goodness, their beauty all reflect the infinite perfection of God. Consequently we can name God by taking his creatures" perfections as our starting point, "for from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator".¹⁵
42 God transcends all creatures. We must therefore continually purify our language of everything in it that is limited, image-bound or imperfect, if we are not to confuse our image of God--"the inexpressible, the incomprehensible, the invisible, the ungraspable"--with our human representations.¹⁶ Our human words always fall short of the mystery of God.
43 Admittedly, in speaking about God like this, our language is using human modes of expression; nevertheless it really does attain to God himself, though unable to express him in his infinite simplicity. Likewise, we must recall that "between Creator and creature no similitude can be expressed without implying an even greater dissimilitude";¹⁷ and that "concerning God, we cannot grasp what he is, but only what he is not, and how other beings stand in relation to him."<sup>18

I am convinced that young people choose and as the text highlighted above states, persuade themselves against reason to accept evil.

That children do not use reason at the age of adolescence is the fault of the parents and teachers, in this age of relativism. But, still, God gives grace to all and invites all to come to Him. 

Do we need revelation? Yes,and we need missionaries. But, reason can lead one to be open to the Gospel message.</sup> 

To deny reason and free will is heresy. Remember, Christ descended into hell, as stated in our creed, and released those who waited for His Redemption. Adam and Eve are the first who come to mind and we honor them as saints. 

Those in Judaism who accepted God's Law and revelation were also among those freed from hell. We call these men and women saints-Judith, Esther, Ruth, Joshua, Jacob, Abraham, Isaac, Moses, David, the prophets, the Maccabees, etc. 

They believed in the promise without the fullness of revelation. These were the righteous, being made so by faith. They believed in the revelation given to them. And, through the use of reason. 

Revelation and Reason--both God's gifts to us....

To be continued....

Why Was God So Hard On Moses?

One of the great questions coming out of a reading of Deuteronomy may be asking why God did not let Moses go into the Promised Land? After all, Moses was the great friend of God's, the holiest man alive, and a great leader of God's  People.

OK, so he struck the rock more than once...but was the sin merely impatience, or anger? Moses was instructed to speak to the rock and, instead, he hit it twice.

Some commentators say that Moses made himself equal to God by referring to "We" providing the water.

Some commentators state that it was because Moses was disobedient and did not follow God's directions exactly, which Moses obviously did not do.

I think it was impatience. Why is impatience such a serious sin?  Impatience is not trusting in God.

After all those years, of intimacy with God, something in Moses still did not trust God enough to wait, wait on the words spoken to the rock for water.

Anger is not trusting in God. Anger is playing God-"I want this, now!" A lack of trust is a lack of love. At that moment, Moses simply did not love God enough to trust in Him.

But, not to go into the Holy Land was a serious punishment.

Moses sinned in front of the entire people. His sin was not private, but public. He gave a bad example of one's relationship to God to the entire assembly of the tribes of Israel.

Moses was not perfect and this surprises us, as only the perfect see God. But, that is the analogy here. Moses, the Giver of the Law, did not enter the place of promise as he was not perfect.

Joshua and Caleb had pure hearts, as did those who were the children of the slaves of Egypt.

A new standard was necessary to enter, and conquer the Promised Land. That standard was purity of heart.

Even though Moses is one of the greatest men of the Old Testament, and represents the Law in the Transfiguration, as Elijah represents the Prophets, and Christ fulfilling the Law and the Prophets, still Moses sinned and was punished. His punishment, however, allowed him to be purified before death. How to we know that? Elijah did not die, but went up to heaven in the fiery chariot. Moses is said in all the commentaries to have died, but his state of perfection was such to allow him to be in heaven, so we see him in the glory of Christ in the Transfiguration. If Moses had been in Hades, in that upper chamber called the First Limbo, waiting for the Harrowing of Hell, he would not have appeared with Christ.

Only the pure enter heaven, and Moses' terrible punishment of not entering Canaan, made his heart pure.

May I add that in the Epistle of Jude, verse 9 notes that the Archangel Michael fought the devil over the body of Moses. This is a great line upon which to meditate and gives teeth to the idea that Moses, like Elijah, was in heaven body and soul.

9 But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, disputed about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a reviling judgment upon him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you."

Wilderness Generation Two; Hope for The Future

For several weeks, I have been reading the Pentateuch, and meditating on the Hebrews long exile in the Wilderness.

I have commented on this here in what has become a popular post,

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.ie/2013/07/the-purification-of-generation-of.html,

but would like to add to that comment in light of things which are happening so fast around us in Europe.

The sins of the Hebrews coming out of Egypt are not subtle, but the interior disposition which causes those sins are. I use the present tense, as these sins, both external and internal, plague us today.

Firstly, the sins were murmuring or continual complaining, a sign of ungratefulness; idolatry, which exploded in the creation of the golden calf and the destruction of two entire clans, caused by lust and a lack of patience; envy of Moses; and cowardice, as only Joshua and Caleb and their families entered the Promised Land.

One can see that externally, these sins differ but there is an interior disposition which causes all-murmuring, idolatry, envy, lust and cowardice.

This is the sin of self-love. Self-love causes one to rebel, deeply, against God and human authority.

Self-love destroys peace and the worship due to God.

Self-love falls into sensuality over and over, as the self becomes god.

Self-love deceives and stops the pursuit of self-knowledge.

God either makes us or allows us to wander until our senses and our spirits are purified. Only the perfect see God. Only the pure in heart went into the Promised Land.

Caleb and Joshua are two of my favourite Old Testament heroes. But, I tend to like the John Wayne men, such as David and the Maccabees.

It is interesting that some of the most numinous and direct revelations of God and His angels were given to Joshua and the Maccabees.

These men fought out of a purity of heart, which is difficult for modern men to grasp.

Caleb saw the tall and fit Canaanites, but was not afraid. His family were blessed by his faith.

In fact, he was rewarded with so much land, that he could give much to his daughter, which I shall write about later.

Joshua, Caleb, the Maccabees had to acquire a purity of heart, a death to self, in order to see God and His Hosts.  How is it that they, among so many who had to die in the Wilderness as a punishment, could go on?

These men loved God more than themselves or their comfort. Simple, really.

David fell into sin, but after his repentance of adultery and murder, he came back to God more humble and with a purity of heart.

Purity of heart demands that one loves, focuses, follows all the ways of God.

Metaphorically, those who wandered in the Wilderness were wandering in their own souls. Until they were purged of self-love, they could not even see the Promised Land. It is interesting that God only chose those who could actually obey Him totally to continue into Canaan. Even Moses was denied entrance and could only look on what he worked so hard to attain. But, he had sinned, being impatience with God.

Obedience is a fruit of the pure in heart. Complaining means that one is playing God. Those who wander in the Wilderness are finally purified, but only so that they can pass their faith and humility on to their children. And, this is key. The younger generation never saw the works of God. They did not see the Passover, the Exodus, the Parting of the Red Sea. But, they heard of the wonders of God from their parents.

They did not see Moses going up on to Mt. Sinai, or coming down and destroying the idolators. They did not see the earthquake which swallowed up the sinful leaders. I merely paraphrase Deuteronomy here.

But, they were formed in the desert.

This gives me hope. Those in this and the next generation will be formed in deserts.

They will need the stories, the heritage of the Catholic Tribe to carry on in unmitigated faith.

The Wilderness experience created a generation of the pure in heart.

To be continued....

The Purification of A Generation of Children

One of my readers asked me why God did these two things: one, cause the Hebrews to wander in the Sinai wilderness for forty years. She thought that the adoration of the golden calf was dealt with at the foot of the mountain.

Two, she could not understand why the army of  St. Joshua had to kill Canaanites. (Also connected to this, would be the slaughter of the Philistines by St. David.)

Good questions.

Yes, God did punish many of those who built the golden calf by death immediately when Moses came down from the mountain. However, the problem of the interior lives of the Hebrews required that there souls be purified. Of what? As I heard in a sermon long ago, the bodies of the Hebrews were freed from slavery in the Exodus, but their souls had to be freed from the slavery of sin and idolatry in the Wandering.

The hardest thing for some of the Israelites was that they had to adore the Unseen God. Although God spoke to Moses, His Voice was not heard by all. There was too much sin and corruption in the souls of the Hebrews blocking the Voice of God.

One can see that 40 years is a generation. All of those who came out of Egypt, barring a few, like Joshua and Caleb, were not allowed entrance into Canaan, not merely because of punishment for idolatry, but because they simply were not strong enough to conquer evil.

One cannot conquer evil outwardly if one has not conquered it inwardly. This is what purification is all about. As in the purification series here on this blog, the process of allowing God to get rid of all sin, the proclivity to sin and to be filled with the Holy Spirit is necessary not only for personal holiness, but for making the Church and the society holy.

Without personal holiness, the Church is weak. God had to purify His People. They were purified to the point where their children were being formed in God's ways from little on.

This is what we need to do now. Form our children from little on to be pure so that they can overcome evil. Evil will thrive and grow without the purity of St. Joshua.

Secondly, the Canaanites were bad news. I have studied their culture.They sacrificed babies, usually the first-born, to Moloch, and archaeologists have found clay jars with the skeletons of infants in them. They would roll these jars into the mouth of the furnaces of Moloch. They also put the bodies of sacrificed children under the foundations of houses. By the way, an old missionary priest friend of mine told me the Maoris did the same thing with the bodies of their slain enemies. His church was built over a Maori home and the remains were found under every one of the main four posts. The idea that the dead gave strength to a house and protected it is not confined to the Canaanites.

Joshua's name is the same as that of Jesus. The name means Saviour. and Joshua, like many other leaders in the Old Testament, is a type of Christ. He tell us something about Christ and points to Christ's winning the battle over evil and death. He is a type of Christ for leading the Israelites into the Promised Land, as Christ leads us to Heaven. But, not without spiritual warfare.

And Joshua had to fight against cannibals.  I recommend reading the Book of Joshua.
But, the Book of Wisdom also refers to these bloody rituals.

1] O how good and sweet is thy spirit, O Lord, in all things! [2] And therefore thou chastisest them that err, by little and little: and admonishest them, and speakest to them, concerning the things wherein they offend: that leaving their wickedness, they may believe in thee, O Lord. [3] For those ancient inhabitants of thy holy land, whom thou didst abhor, [4] Because they did works hateful to thee by their sorceries, and wicked sacrifices, [5] And those merciless murderers of their own children, and eaters of men' s bowels, and devourers of blood from the midst of thy consecration, DR

The woman who asked the question could not understand offensive warfare dictated by God in the Old Testament.

For a context, many in 2013 have lost the idea of defense; that is, that in Catholic teaching, one may defend one's family, one's nation, and even one's property.

However, the offensive wars of the Old Testament, like the destruction of the five cities by God, two of which were Sodom and Gomorrah, are hard for modern Catholics to understand.

God called His People to a holiness and He called them to the Promised Land. His Will was to cleanse those lands of evil so that His People would thrive in holiness.

Christ does not call us to offensive war, except in prayer. Spiritual warfare needs spiritual weapons. However, we have a right to defend ourselves and a duty to defend those who are weak-children, women, the elderly.

As in The Mission, there are two ways to withstand evil. One is fighting, and one is witnessing peace. Both groups were right, but all but a few died.

Make pursuing the path to purification a priority in your lives. Teach your children and form them from the cradle. They shall see the age of the Canaanites. It is already upon us in some places.