"We Will Serve the Lord"

Saturday, August 16th Readings Reflection: Saturday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

I would like to focus on the Epistle for today’s Mass, which is taken from the Book of Joshua. The passage tells of Joshua’s addressing the Israelites and calling them to cast aside their false gods and serve only the true God. Joshua then makes his beautiful profession of faith: “[B]ut as for me and my house we will serve the Lord” (Jos 24:15 DRB).

The people respond to this with their own profession of faith, promising to serve the true God, Who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt. Joshua warns the people in an effort to help them realize the gravity of their promise: “If you leave the Lord, and serve strange gods, [H]e will turn, and will afflict you, and will destroy you after all the good [H]e hath done you” (Jos 24:20). However, the people remain firm in their resolution: “[W]e will serve the Lord our God, and we will be obedient to [H]is commandments” (Jos 24:24).

From our knowledge of the rest of the Old Testament, we know that God’s people often broke this covenant, turning away from Him to worship their false gods, which varied from sculpted figures to sins, such as adultery and murder. However, time and again, God sent prophets to warn His people of the impending judgement and prepare their hearts for the coming Messiah.

Joshua’s warning in today’s Epistle also serves as a warning for us, too. While we have had the blessing of receiving the saving graces of Baptism, we often fall into sin throughout our lives. Some times, we may even have the grievous misfortune to fall into mortal sin, which completely destroys the life of grace in our souls. Despite our Baptisms, we can fall from grace by mortal sin, and if we die in this state while unrepentant, we will receive an eternal punishment of damnation. God does not punish us in this way out of vengeance but rather out of love, for if there is no eternal punishment for unrepentant mortal sin, an eternal reward for virtue has no meaning.

Just as the Israelites in today’s Epistle had a choice, so too we have a choice each day of our lives: to serve the Lord or to serve instead whatever false gods we may erect in place of the true God. May we always accept the grace to choose to follow God every moment of our lives so that we might not fall into sin and deserve eternal punishment but instead live always in the state of grace so that we may spend all eternity in the presence of the one true God.

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