Show full transcript 0:46 to rely on generous contributions from listeners like you to help defray these costs and 0:50 to enable us to continually provide new audiences with this life changing content. 0:54 So if you would like to help support the Bible in a year mission, you can go to AscensionPress.com 1:00 slash support. That's AscensionPress.com slash support. 1:08 Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Bible in a year podcast where 1:12 we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a year podcast 1:16 is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all 1:19 the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how 1:23 Now we fit into that story today. 1:25 Guess what day it is? 1:27 It is day 300. 1:29 Take it in. 1:31 Soak it in. 1:31 You've reached day 300. 1:33 There are, according to my mathematical skills, 65 days left, and you've gotten this far. 1:40 This is incredible. 1:41 Anyways, kudos to you. 1:43 We're reading 2nd Maccabees, chapter 3, Sirach, chapter 45 and 46, as well as Proverbs, 1:47 chapter 24, verses 10 through 12. 1:49 As always, the Bible translation I'm reading from is the Revised Standard Version, 2nd 1:52 Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you 1:55 want to download your own Bible in-year reading plan and you would already have 1:58 known that today is day 300, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible 2:02 in-year. You can print it out. It's in color and you can mark it off like I do 2:06 with a blue marker. You can also subscribe to this podcast to receive 2:10 daily episodes and daily updates on day 300, where we're reading Second Book of 2:14 Maccabees chapter 3, Sirach 45 and 46, Proverbs chapter 24, verses 10 through 2:19 12. The second book of the Maccabees, chapter 3. Arrival of Heliodorus in Jerusalem. 2:28 While the holy city was inhabited in unbroken peace, and the laws were very well observed because 2:32 of the piety of the High Priest Donius and his hatred of wickedness, it came about that the kings 2:37 themselves honored the place and glorified the temple with the finest presence so that even 2:41 Seleucis, the king of Asia, defrayed from his own revenues all the expenses connected with 2:45 the service of the sacrifices. 2:48 But a man named Simon, of the tribe of Benjamin, who had been made captain of the temple, had 2:53 a disagreement with the high priest about the administration of the city market. 2:56 And when he could not prevail over Onias, he went to Apollonius of Tarsus, who at that 3:01 time was governor of Coel-Syria and Phoenicia. 3:03 He reported to him that the treasury in Jerusalem was full of untold sums of money, so that 3:08 the amount of the funds could not be reckoned and that they did not belong to the 3:12 account of the sacrifices, but that it was possible for them to fall under the control 3:16 of the king. 3:17 When Apollonius met the king, he told him of the money about which he had been informed. 3:21 The king chose Heliodorus, who was in charge of his affairs, and sent him with commands 3:25 to effect the removal of the aforesaid money. 3:28 Heliodorus had once set out on his journey ostensibly to make a tour of inspection 3:31 of the cities of Coelcyria and Phoenicia, but in fact to carry out the king's purpose. 3:36 When he had arrived at Jerusalem and had been kindly welcomed by the high priest 3:40 of the city, he told about the disclosure that had been made and stated why he had come, 3:45 and he inquired whether this really was the situation. The High Priest explained that there 3:49 were some deposits belonging to widows and orphans, and also some money of Hercanus, 3:53 son of Tobias, a man of very prominent position, and that it totaled in all 400 talents of 3:59 silver and 200 of gold. To such an extent, the impious Simon had misrepresented the facts, 4:05 and he said that it was utterly impossible that wrong should be done to those people 4:08 who had trusted in the holiness of the place and in the sanctity and inviolability of the 4:13 temple which is honored throughout the whole world. 4:15 But Heliodorus, because of the king's commands which he had, said that this money must in 4:20 any case be confiscated for the king's treasury. 4:22 So he set a day and went in to direct the inspection of these funds. 4:26 There was no little distress throughout the whole city. 4:29 The priests prostrated themselves before the altar in their priestly garments and 4:32 called toward heaven upon him who had given the law about deposits, that he should 4:36 keep them safe for those who had deposited them. 4:39 To see the appearance of the high priest was to be wounded at heart for his face and the 4:43 change in his color disclosed the anguish of his soul. 4:46 For terror and bodily trembling had come over the man which plainly showed to those who 4:50 looked at him the pain lodged in his heart. 4:53 People also hurried out of their houses and crowds to make a general supplication because 4:56 the holy place was about to be brought into contempt. 5:00 Women clothed with sackcloth under their breasts thronged the streets. 5:04 gates. Some of the maidens who were kept indoors ran together to the gates and some to the 5:08 walls while others peered out of the windows. And holding up their hands to heaven, they 5:13 all made in treaty. There was something pitiable in the prostration of the whole populace and 5:17 the anxiety of the high priest in his great anguish. 5:21 The Lord protects his temple. While they were calling upon the Almighty Lord, that 5:26 he would keep what had been entrusted safe and secure for those who had entrusted 5:30 it. 5:30 Heliodorus went on with what had been decided. 5:33 But when he arrived at the treasury with his bodyguard, then and there, the sovereign of 5:37 spirits and of all authority caused so great a manifestation that all who had been so bold 5:42 as to accompany him were astounded by the power of God and became faint with terror. 5:46 For there appeared to them a magnificently comparison horse with a rider of frightening 5:51 mane, and it rushed furiously at Heliodorus and struck at him with its front hooves. 5:56 Its rider was seen to have armor and weapons of gold. 5:59 Two young men also appeared to him, remarkably strong, gloriously beautiful, and splendidly 6:04 dressed, who stood on each side of him and scourged him continuously, inflicting many 6:08 blows on him. 6:09 When he suddenly fell to the ground and deep darkness came over him, his men took him 6:13 up and put him on a stretcher and carried him away. 6:16 This man, who had just entered the aforesaid treasury with a great retinue and all his 6:20 bodyguard, but was now unable to help himself. 6:24 And they recognized clearly the sovereign power of God. 6:27 While he lay prostrate, speechless, because of the divine intervention, and deprived of 6:32 any hope of recovery, they praised the Lord, who had acted marvelously for his own place. 6:37 And the temple, which a little while before was full of fear and disturbance, was filled 6:41 with joy and gladness, now that the Almighty Lord had appeared. 6:46 Onias prays for Heliodorus. 6:48 Quickly, some of Heliodorus' friends ask Onias to call upon the Most High and 6:53 to grant life to one who was lying quite at his last breath. 6:55 death. And the high priest, fearing that the king might get the notion that some foul play 7:00 had been perpetrated by the Jews with regard to Heliodorus, offered sacrifice for the man's 7:04 recovery. While the high priest was making the offering of atonement, the same young 7:08 men appeared again to Heliodorus dressed in the same clothing and they stood and said, 7:13 Be very grateful to Onias the high priest. Since for his sake, the Lord has granted 7:19 you your life. And see that you, who have been scourged by heaven, report to all 7:23 men the majestic power of God. Having said this, they vanished. 7:29 The conversion of Heliodorus Then Heliodorus offered sacrifice to the 7:34 Lord and made very great vows to the Savior of his life, and having bitten Onais farewell, 7:39 he marched off with his forces to the king, and he bore testimony to all men of the 7:43 deeds of the supreme God which he had seen with his own eyes. When the king asked 7:48 Heliodorus what sort of person would be suitable to send on another mission to Jerusalem, 7:51 him, he replied, if you have any enemy or plotter against your government, send him there, for 7:56 you will get him back thoroughly scourged if he escapes at all, for there certainly is 8:01 about the place some power of God, for he who has his dwelling in heaven watches over 8:05 that place himself and brings it aid, and he strikes and destroys those who come to 8:10 do it injury. 8:11 This was the outcome of the episode of Heliodorus and the protection of the Treasury. 8:16 The Book of Sirach, Chapter 45. 8:24 From his descendants, the Lord brought forth a man of mercy, who found favor in the sight 8:28 of all flesh, and was beloved by God and man, Moses, whose memory is blessed. 8:34 He made him equal in glory to the holy ones, and made him great in the fears of his enemies. 8:39 By his words, he caused signs to cease. 8:42 The Lord glorified him in the presence of kings. 8:45 He gave him commands for his people, and showed him part of his glory. 8:49 He sanctified him through faithfulness and meekness, and chose him out of all mankind. 8:54 He made him hear his voice, and led him into the thick darkness, and gave him the commandments 8:58 face to face, the law of life and knowledge, to teach Jacob the covenant, and Israel his 9:04 judgments. 9:05 He exalted Aaron, the brother of Moses, a holy man like him of the tribe of Levi. 9:10 He made an everlasting covenant with him, and gave him the priesthood of the people. 9:14 temple. He blessed him with splendid vestments and put a glorious robe upon him. He clothed 9:20 him with superb perfection and strengthened him with the symbols of authority, the linen 9:24 britches, the long robe, and the ephod. And he encircled him with pomegranates, with very 9:29 many golden bells round about, to send forth as a sound as he walked, to make the ringing 9:34 herd in the temple as a reminder to the sons of his people with a holy garment, 9:39 of gold and blue and purple, the work of an embroiderer, with the oracle of 9:43 judgment, Urim and Thumam, with twisted scarlet the work of a craftsman, with precious stones 9:48 engraved like signets in a setting of gold the work of a jeweler, for a reminder in engraved 9:54 letters according to the number of the tribes of Israel, with a gold crown upon his turban, 9:59 inscribed like a signet with holiness, a distinction to be prized, the work of an expert, 10:06 the delight of the eyes richly adorned. 10:08 Before his time, there never were such beautiful things. 10:12 No outsider ever put them on, but only his sons and his descendants perpetually. 10:17 His sacrifices shall be wholly burned twice every day continually. 10:21 Moses ordained him and anointed him with holy oil. 10:24 It was an everlasting covenant for him and for his descendants all the days of heaven 10:28 to minister to the Lord and serve as priests and bless his people in his name. 10:33 He chose him out of all the living to offer sacrifice to the Lord, incense and 10:37 a pleasing odor as a memorial portion to make atonement for the people. 10:42 In his commandments he gave him authority in statutes and judgments to teach Jacob the 10:46 testimonies and to enlighten Israel with his law. 10:50 Outsiders conspired against him and envied him in the wilderness, Dathan and Abiram and 10:55 their men and the company of Korah in wrath and anger. 10:58 The Lord saw it and was not pleased, and in the wrath of his anger they were destroyed. 11:03 destroyed. He wrought wonders against them to consume them in flaming fire. He added 11:08 glory to Aaron and gave him a heritage. He allotted to him the first of the first fruits. 11:14 He prepared bread of first fruits in abundance, for they eat the sacrifices to the Lord which 11:19 he gave to him and his descendants. But in the land of the people he has no inheritance, 11:24 and he has no portion among the people, for the Lord himself is his portion and inheritance. 11:30 Finneas, the son of Eliezar, is the third in glory, for he was zealous in the fear of 11:35 the Lord and stood fast when the people turned away, in the ready goodness of his soul and 11:40 made atonement for Israel. 11:42 Therefore, a covenant of peace was established with him, that he should be leader of the 11:46 sanctuary and of his people, that he and his descendants should have the dignity 11:49 of the priesthood forever. 11:51 A covenant was also established with David, the son of Jesse, of the tribe of Judah. 11:55 The heritage of the king is from son to son only, so the heritage of Aaron is for his descendants. 12:02 May the Lord grant you wisdom in your heart to judge his people in righteousness, so that 12:06 their prosperity may not vanish, and that their glory may endure throughout their generations. 12:12 Chapter 46 Joshua, the son of Nun, was mighty in war, 12:17 and was the successor of Moses and prophesying. 12:20 He became, in accordance with his name, a great savior of God's elect, to take 12:24 vengeance on the enemies that rose against them, so that he might give Israel its inheritance. 12:29 How glorious he was when he lifted his hands and stretched out his sword against the cities. 12:34 Who before him ever stood so firm? 12:37 For he waged the wars of the Lord. 12:39 Was not the Son held back by his hand, and did not one day become as long as two? 12:44 He called upon the Most High, the Mighty One, when enemies pressed him on every side, 12:48 and the great Lord answered him with hailstones of mighty power. 12:51 war. He hurled down war upon that nation, and at the descent of Beth-Haron he destroyed 12:57 those who resisted so that the nations might know his armament, that he was fighting in 13:01 the sight of the Lord, for he wholly followed the mighty one. And in the days of Moses he 13:07 did a loyal deed. He and Caleb, the son of Japhuna, they withstood the congregation, 13:11 restrained the people from sin and stilled their wicked murmuring. And these two 13:16 alone were preserved out of the 600,000 people on foot, to bring them into their 13:20 inheritance into a land flowing with milk and honey. 13:24 And the Lord gave Caleb strength, which remained with him to old age, so that he went up to 13:29 the hill country and his children obtained it for an inheritance, so that all the sons 13:33 of Israel might see that it is good to follow the Lord. 13:37 The judges also, with their respective names, those whose hearts did not fall into 13:40 idolatry and who did not turn away from the Lord, may their memory be blessed, 13:45 may their bones revive from where they lie, and may the name of those who have 13:49 been honored live again in their sons. Samuel, beloved by his Lord, a prophet of the Lord, 13:55 established the kingdom and anointed rulers over his people. By the law of the Lord, he 14:00 judged the congregation, and the Lord watched over Jacob. By his faithfulness, he was proved 14:05 to be a prophet, and by his words he became known as a trustworthy seer. He called upon 14:10 the Lord, the mighty one, when his enemies pressed him on every side, and he offered 14:14 and sacrifice a sucking lamb. Then the Lord thundered from heaven and made his voice heard 14:19 with a mighty sound, and he wiped out the leaders of the people of Tyre and all the rulers of the 14:23 Philistines. Before the time of his eternal sleep, Samuel called men to witness before the Lord and 14:29 his anointed. I have not taken anyone's property, not so much as a pair of shoes. 14:34 And no man accused him. Even after he had fallen asleep he prophesied and revealed to the 14:40 king his death, and lifted up his voice out of the earth in prophecy to blot out the wickedness 14:45 of the people. 14:50 The Book of Proverbs, chapter 24, verses 10-12. 14:55 If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. 14:59 Rescue those who are being taken away to death. 15:01 Hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. 15:04 If you say, Behold, we did not know this. 15:07 Does not he who weighs at the heart perceive it? 15:09 Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it? 15:12 And will he not repay man according to his work father in heaven? We give you praise. Thank you God 15:21 Thank you so much. Gosh Lord God you are present always and sometimes we 15:27 Can see your work and sometimes we can't sometimes we can see your presence in your action and sometimes we can't and so 15:33 Just please Lord God today. Give us the grace give us the grace to be able to see that even when 15:39 Even when you're hidden you're still present and even when it can look we've prayed before when it seems like you're 15:46 You're not doing anything that you are always active. 15:48 And so we praise your name. 15:50 Help us to have eyes to see, 15:53 but even when we don't see, 15:54 help us to have the heart that trusts. 15:56 Help us to have a heart that trusts, 15:57 even when we don't see. 15:59 In Jesus' name we pray, amen. 16:00 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, 16:01 and of the Holy Spirit, amen. 16:02 Okay, gosh, you guys, day 300, so good. 16:05 Okay, did I not say that second Maccabees 16:07 is massively different than first Maccabees 16:10 as we expected that to be the case? 16:11 They're kind of telling two different sides of the story. 16:14 And ah, it's so good these first three chapters already you guys they're gonna get better and better 16:19 Because as we said in the first book of Maccabees, it is just telling the story from kind of a I don't want to say secular point of view 16:27 but 16:27 The point of view that doesn't necessarily acknowledge the fact that God is active and present in all these things 16:32 Versus second Maccabees that is making it absolutely clear that God is completely active in all of this 16:39 And so we have, right, the story of here's Onias, the high priest, who was, he was holy, he was good, 16:43 he did a lot of good things. And yet there's this man, Simon of the tribe of Benjamin, 16:47 who'd been made a captain of the temple, had disagreement with Onias about the administration 16:50 of stuff. And so basically he, oh gosh, just think about the ways in which this happens to us. 16:57 There's some kind of argument, some kind of disagreement. And someone says, you know what, 17:00 if I can take this person down in any way, shape, or form, I'm going to take him down. 17:03 And that's what Simon of the tribe of Benjamin tries to do. He goes to Apollonius of Tarsus, 17:08 who was the governor of that whole area of Kuels-Syria and Phoenicia, and basically says, 17:13 yeah, you know, the temple has a bunch of money that they're not giving to the king because 17:17 the king Seleusus had defrayed costs and all these kind of things. And so, he says, let's send 17:24 Heliodorus because Epilonius goes to the king and says, actually, they've got all this money. 17:28 So he sends Heliodorus with the command to bring back money. Oh, nice. Meets him and says, 17:32 is, yeah, we don't have a ton of money. 17:35 We're actually the temple treasury 17:37 that is not dedicated to the Lord. 17:40 That is for the well-being. 17:42 Basically, they're the bank saying, 17:44 we were keeping this kind of money 17:45 for widows and orphans. 17:46 And there's a couple of people here, 17:48 like Harkanus, son of Tobias. 17:50 He's got some money here too, 17:51 but we're holding it in trust for him 17:52 in that we can't just give it away 17:54 because he gave it to us, 17:56 trusting us that we care for it. 17:58 And this money goes to widows and orphans. 18:00 We can't just give it away to the king 18:01 because it goes to take care of the people who are disadvantaged here, people who are needing this. 18:05 And so there's all this distress, and it's just incredible because what it shows, again, 18:09 we didn't get this in 1st Maccabees, what it shows is the people then go to the temple, 18:13 they prostrate themselves before the Lord, and they're weeping, they're wailing, even, you 18:17 know, it says women coming out, even young maidens come out, even if they have to keep 18:20 indoors, they're going to the windows, and they're praying towards the temple 18:24 to that God hears their prayer. And here's the thing, He does. He actually hears their 18:29 prayer and the Lord protects his temple. So what happens? 18:33 Heliodorus is there and he has this massive vision and the vision 18:36 actually beats him up and he is in danger of death. And then, 18:40 you know, of course, Onias offers the sacrifice and the same 18:44 vision returns to him and says, listen, buddy, you better praise 18:47 the Lord, you better thank Onias because he interceded on your 18:49 behalf and now you'll be healed essentially. And so then 18:52 Heliodorus has a conversion. Heliodorus basically says, I 18:56 worship no God but the God alone, more or less. I'm paraphrasing obviously. Now, we can hear this 19:01 and we can say, that's amazing. We heard the story in 1st Maccabees, not this particular story, 19:08 but we heard stories in 1st Maccabees that didn't involve God doing anything miraculous, 19:12 just involved people like Judas Maccabees on going to battle and his brothers going to battle. 19:19 We didn't necessarily see, here's the Lord fighting for his people. And so part of us 19:23 can can realize this is how we do this. Sometimes we look at our lives and we look at them like 19:29 first Maccabees. Here's just the details. I'm looking at this with a worldview that simply says, 19:34 yep, this would happen today. But we're called to look at our lives through the vision of 19:38 second Maccabees, where we say, God, this is my day. Yep, this would happen in the course 19:43 of this day. Where were you? Where were your small moments of grace? Because every single one 19:49 us has these moments of grace every single day of our lives now maybe not big 19:53 massive visions but there could be small promptings of grace where the Lord 19:57 respects our free will and he yet nudges us this way or nudges us away and if 20:03 you know is if we might be in danger of saying does God really do that I mean 20:07 doesn't you know here's Heliodorus has got to really have those kinds of big 20:11 moments and we have to say absolutely in fact I know there are people in this 20:15 community the Bible in your community this has been part of your 20:18 experience. Part of your experience has been the Lord has given you an 20:23 unmistakable sign. Here's, you know, St. Paul or, you know, Saul, he's on the way 20:26 to persecute Christians and on the way there, Jesus appears to him and stops 20:30 him from from doing this, essentially. There's a story that is just, it is in 20:35 so incredible, it just, there's a saint named St. Mary of Egypt and the story 20:40 of St. Mary of Egypt, just to be really, really brief, is at one point 20:44 Mary was a prostitute and the reason why she was a prostitute, and she 20:48 She even says this in her own like biography 20:49 in her own words, essentially. 20:51 She says, there are some people who enter into prostitution 20:53 because they're forced into it. 20:55 Some because they're desperate. 20:56 Some are forced into it against their will. 20:58 And we all know, right? 20:59 The reality of sex trade, sex slavery kind of thing. 21:02 But Mary of Egypt, she said that I did it 21:04 because I enjoyed it. 21:05 And she said I was bound by this. 21:07 And at one point, Mary of Egypt, 21:09 she decided to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem 21:11 to the Holy Land. 21:13 And you think, that's crazy. 21:14 Why would you do this? 21:14 She just kind of had a impulse 21:17 to the one she wanted to go and visit Israel. She wanted to visit Jerusalem. 21:21 And so, yeah, this is... it gets really dark. It's already dark, but it gets even darker. 21:26 So she joins up with a group of pilgrims who are leaving from wherever she lived in Egypt, and I think it was Egypt, and 21:35 she goes to Jerusalem. She pays her way on this pilgrimage 21:41 by prostituting herself to other pilgrims. 21:44 Which, as I said, it gets dark because we realize you would think, 21:48 wait a second, you're on a pilgrimage to go to the Holy Land for crying out loud. 21:51 How is this even that happens? 21:53 And in this case, you would say, you know, broken people take pilgrimages, 21:58 broken people take retreats, broken people pray on a daily basis. 22:02 And some of that brokenness remains broken. 22:05 I remember when I read that, I thought, oh my gosh, really? 22:09 That is it just so it broke my heart to realize that. 22:12 but here's Mary. She finally gets to Jerusalem and she's going to walk into the Church of the Holy 22:16 Supplicer. The Church of the Holy Supplicer, if you ever get to Jerusalem, it's a big church built 22:20 over the spot of Golgotha where Jesus was crucified and over the tomb. So it's this massive church 22:26 because between Golgotha and the tomb, you could throw a rock. I mean, people can. I'm not a 22:30 very good throw, but other people could throw a rock from Golgotha to where the tomb is. It's 22:34 not that far apart. So there's this big church built over the tomb and over Golgotha, Calvary. 22:40 Mary tries to walk in to the Holy Sepulchre, and she's prevented. She can't actually walk into the 22:46 church. She's physically prevented. It's kind of like Heliodorus here. He's walking into the 22:50 temple, and he's going to seize the property. And what happens is the Lord God stops him. The Lord 22:55 God stopped Mary because it was one of those things of she was going to continue on her way. 23:01 She was bound by this sin. This was, you know, as I said, it wasn't a thing she was forced 23:05 into wasn't something she was desperate to do. It was something that she herself was bound by, 23:10 she said it, she was bound by lust. And that had to hold on her and she was prevented from going in 23:15 and she began, she realized, oh my gosh, for the first time ever, she realized, this is what my 23:21 sin has done to me. This is what I've done to myself in this, in choosing this sin over and over 23:26 and over again. I've made it, access to God has been made impossible for me. I no longer 23:31 have access to the Lord. So she ate broke her heart and she begins weeping because she realizes 23:37 I'm on the outside and if I die like this I will die on the outside. I will spend my eternity 23:44 away from God. And what does she do? I think there is this image of our Lady, this image of 23:50 Mary the mother of God, mother of Jesus and she saw it and she said, Mary, Mary please pray 23:56 for me, intercede for me with your son Jesus, intercede for me with the Father in heaven 24:00 And she had a conversion right there. 24:03 She had this massive moment 24:04 where her heart was broken by the mercy of Jesus Christ 24:09 through this intercession of our Lady. 24:12 And she went to confession 24:13 and she was reconciled to the Lord. 24:16 She was reconciled to the church 24:17 and she spent the rest of her life in the desert, 24:19 which is why she's named Mary of Egypt. 24:21 That's why I can't remember where she originally came 24:23 from, I should have looked it up. 24:24 But she spent the rest of her life 24:26 doing penance in the wilderness, 24:27 doing penance in the desert 24:29 in Egypt. And at one point there was a priest who was in the wilderness, living in retreat, 24:35 essentially. And he came upon this woman, Mary, and she told him her story. And that's how we 24:41 have the story of Mary, of Egypt, St. Mary of Egypt, because the Lord interceded and intervened 24:47 on her behalf in a miraculous way, just like the Lord interceded against Heliodorus 24:53 for his sake, but also for the sake of the people. I hope that makes sense, you know. 24:57 Ah, what a gift. 24:58 Also, last little gift in Sirach chapters 45 and 46. 25:02 Oh, also we started before in verse 44. 25:04 We're gonna keep going in 48 and following. 25:06 We have the story of these people 25:07 that we know their stories. 25:09 We know the story of Samuel. 25:11 We know the story of Aaron. 25:12 We know the story of Moses. 25:13 And it's great to hear Sirach recovering over, 25:17 recovering Sirach talking once again 25:20 about these incredible people of faith 25:22 because now we know their stories. 25:24 We've been listening to the Word of God for 300 days, and we know who these people are and 25:29 what a gift it is for us and for 25:32 everyone who gets to hear and read the Word of God that we get to know our 25:36 our inheritance our patrimony is is this story and so gosh what a gift anyways the long story about St. Mary of Egypt 25:44 Hopefully it blessed you today because what God has done for her and what God has done for Heliodorus 25:49 And what God has done for so many people Saul now st. Paul he wants to do for you and for me 25:54 We have some things maybe we're holding on to that make it so we can't have access to the Father's heart 25:59 Or we can't have access to the temple obviously 26:01 Prithetically we always have access because if you've been baptized you may need God's adopted sons and daughters 26:06 But there might be something to a holding on to that are preventing us from getting close to the Father 26:11 And so what do we do? We appeal to Jesus name. We actually can pray 26:14 We can ask for our brother and sister to pray for us 26:16 We can ask for Mary who is given to us from the cross as our mom 26:19 We can ask her to pray for us and we can pray for each other 26:23 that we have access to the Father. 26:24 I know that I am praying for you. 26:25 Please pray for me. 26:27 My name is Father Mike. 26:28 I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. 26:29 God bless.
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