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Monday, July 30, 2001

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St. Peter Chrysologus


Exodus 32:15-24, 30-34
Psalm 106:19-23
Matthew 13:31-35

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moses, the bartender?

He "made the Israelites drink." —Exodus 32:20

Never hire Moses as your bartender because he mixes the strangest drinks. When Moses saw the Israelites worshiping a molten calf, "he fused it in the fire and then ground it down to powder, which he scattered on the water and made the Israelites drink" (Ex 32:20).

In our life and death, we will drink either the cup of wrath (Rv 14:10) or "the cup of salvation" (Ps 116:13). We will either join the whore of Babylon and get drunk on sin (see Rv 17:6), or we will drink Jesus' blood and live in Him forever (Jn 6:54).

We're all going to "drink and drive." Will we drive, drunk with sin, into hell? Or will we drive in the exhilarating power of the Spirit into eternal life? Jesus invites us: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me; let him drink who believes in Me" (Jn 7:37-38). Drink the cup of salvation, the blood of Jesus.

Prayer:  Jesus, I choose to drink of "the blood of the covenant" (Mt 26:28).

Promise:  "I will announce what has lain hidden since the creation of the world." —Mt 13:35

Praise:  St. Peter's principal weapon against the evil of his day was a short, but on-target, sermon.

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, January 4, 2001


Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, January 24, 2001