®

fr. brian doerr

Edited by Christopher Helle

and Robert Storey
 “And behold, two men
talked with him, Moses
and Elijah, who appeared
in glory and spoke of his
Exodus, which he was to
accomplish at Jerusalem
[where he was to suffer].”

Luke 9:30-31
Text copyright © 2018 Those Catholic Men, Inc.
Scripture from the Knox Version.
Text written by Fr. Brian Doerr in 2014.
Edited by Christopher Helle and Robert Storey.
Design and layout by 86 Creative.
Published in the United States by Those Catholic Men.

www.ThoseCatholicMen.com
www.Exodus90.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,

transmitted, or stored in an informational retrieval system in
any form or by any means, graphic, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, taping, and recording without written
permission from the publisher.

Second digital edition 2018.

ISBN-13: 978-1541121812
 Table of contents
I. History & Overview (1)

II. More than a Chastity Program (5)

III. Five Steps to Starting Exodus 90 (7)

IV. Fraternity Meeting Structure (15)

V. The Married Man & His Wife (26)

VI. About the Knox Translation (29)

VII. Daily Scriptures & Meditations (32)

Appendix I: Encouragement from the Church (298)

Appendix II: Leading a Fraternity (304)

About the Author: The Priest Behind Exodus 90 (314)

 History &

OVERVIEW

“Let my son go that he may love me.” Exodus 4:23

E
xodus 90 was developed at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary by
young men who, having been raised in a society enslaved to sin,
longed for a more perfect personal freedom as they anticipated
service in the Church. These were good men; men who had already
decided that, in response to God’s call, they would give themselves
entirely to the work and ministry of the Church. Nonetheless, the
freedom required for such an endeavor was limited by destructive
habits that would prevent the realization of this worthy goal. Perhaps
some would find this scandalous: men studying for the priesthood who
struggled with base inclinations. They made the lament of the Lord
their own prayer: “Let my son go that he may love me” (Exodus 4:23).
Yet, if one would but consider that these men struggled, what about
other men, like those preparing for marriage, who may also be in need
of a life giving and liberating spiritual exercise?

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 Not every man has habitually succumbed to the temptations of the
flesh, but many men struggle to remain chaste. Our culture has
become a major stumbling block to men. Even those unaffiliated
with the church or another religion, find themselves helplessly in
trouble. Countless websites dedicated to overcoming Pornography
Induced Erectile Dysfunction have appeared almost overnight. And,
even as the culture has for many years attempted to convince men that
pornography and masturbation are “normal and healthy,” men know
better. In the words of a wise old man, “Every boy knows it is wrong,
that is why he locks the door before doing it.” Men, spiritual or not,
know that sexual activity outside of marriage reduces personal freedom,
destroys his contentment, and diminishes his natural power. A man
who is not free is a man who cannot love, and a man who cannot love
is no man at all.

The goal of Exodus 90 is to achieve the freedom necessary to fully

engage the love of God and the love of neighbor. The freedom sought
by men accepting the Exodus challenge is not limited to sexual liberty,
but also the enslavement to countless temptations advanced by the
culture: materialism, narcissism (selfishness), alcoholism, and most
significantly, spiritual coldness. Exodus is based on a challenging
90-day period of purification, a dying to self, which is supported by
a fraternity of like-minded men for greater interior freedom and,
eventually, a more purified and selfless love. The experience is fantastic
for those discerning a vocation, for men preparing for marriage, for
men struggling with an addiction of any kind (in conjunction with
counseling or a Twelve Step program), or for a man who has difficulty
finding God and desires to radically unite himself to his Heavenly
Father. The work of Exodus is effective for the realization of overall
self-mastery and openness to the will and mystery of God. Exodus is
not a program of penance and self-abasement. It is a program for men
who seek, together, to strive for more perfect freedom. This is the
cornerstone of the exercise and much will be lost if that is forgotten.

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 We highly recommended, as much as possible, that nothing be changed
in Exodus 90. The ‘need to control’ is one of the major reasons men fail
while seeking to be free. Most men, when invited to join Exodus 90,
are filled with fear and anxiety – the first step is overcoming the loss of
control and giving it to God.

Research has determined the chemistry in a man’s brain can be altered

[and returned to a more natural state] in a period of 90 days. No
matter the struggle, if a man can abstain from the habitual activity for
a period of 90 days, he is afforded a good amount of new and life-
giving freedom. There is no magic. Suffering will be required. He is not
automatically granted a perfect self-mastery without further struggle,
even after 90 days. But the freedom he enjoys can be the basis of a new
and revitalized life in Christ. From that point, he can remain free and
continue to grow in personal freedom (although it always remains a
possibility, if he is careless, that he can sabotage his success and return
to his former slavery). The studies for these assumptions are numerous:
“…researchers have found that it takes about 90 days - the length of
many rehabilitation models, including AA, for the brain to “reset”
itself. A Yale University study found that after an addict has abstained
for at least 90 days, the brain gradually returns to its natural decision-
making and analytical functions” (All in Our Heads: How the Brain
Creates Addiction; Meghan O’Dell).

Those Catholic Men happily offers this program to its followers. Do

not consider this a chastity program, as such. The program is a means
for self-mastery and greater interior freedom. We know from much
experience, if engaged properly, the program truly works. This must
be kept in mind during the exercise when the temptation to abandon
the program becomes too overwhelming. In addition, the men who
have successfully completed the 90 days have all, entirely, identified the
fraternal nature of the exercise as the key to their success.

Brotherhood is essential to your Exodus success.

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 Caution: Although we are enthusiastic about Exodus 90, Those Catholic
Men, Inc. makes no claims to a man’s individual success in overcoming
addiction. Exodus 90 employs time honored competencies of the Church,
including prayer, asceticism and fraternity. Personal success depends
on the individual’s investment and commitment. Exodus 90 is an assist
toward internal freedom.

If you find additional assistance of a psychological nature is needed, we

recommend the following resources: www.CatholicTherapists.com or
www.IntegrityRestored.com.

Unique Offer Exclusively for Exodus 90 Men:

We highly recommend using Covenant Eyes monitoring software
during the program, both for those overcoming addiction and others
generally desiring a more intentional use of the internet. Insert the
promo code “Exodus90” upon checkout at www.CovenantEyes.com,
and you will receive the first 30 days of the software free of charge.

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 More than a
CHASTITY PROGRAM

A
s previously stated, much would be lost if Exodus 90 were to
be considered a chastity program exclusively. Men secure in the
freedom of self-mastery may elect to join an Exodus Fraternity
for the sake of radical spiritual growth.

In the Letter of St. James, we find enough to convict us of our need for
Exodus. St. James wrote in the fourth chapter of his letter: “Unfaithful
creatures! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity
with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes
himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is in vain that the
scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the spirit which he has made
to dwell in us’”? Making a quick examination of our lives might reveal
just how enmeshed we truly are in the world: consider where we place
our efforts and our energies; consider our day-to-day priorities; and
consider what immediately threatens us. “For where your treasure is,”
Our Lord reminded us, “there will your heart be also.” This simple
examination is enough to spark spiritual awareness and, therefore,
reveal to us the benefits of Exodus 90.

If you find yourself given over to this passing world, you would do

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 well to understand clearly the implications of the situation of which St.
James warns us: that our friendship with the world makes us hostile to
God! Whether we intend this hostility or not is irrelevant to St. James.
The truth is, we place ourselves in grave spiritual danger when we are
so full of the things of this world - and so utterly focused on anything
other than God. Married, single, celibate matters little. You are a son
of the Most High God and he means to dwell with you by the “spirit
which he has made to dwell in us”. Know that this cannot happen if we
have burdened ourselves by the transitory things of this world.

With great confidence, St. James reminds us: “Draw near to God and
he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify
your hearts, you men of double mind. Be wretched and mourn and
weep… Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.” A
practical plan of asceticism, as detailed in Exodus, can easily create the
conditions needed to fulfill the urgings of St. James. Men who have
completed the 90 day journey will often return to Exodus for Advent
and Lent as a means to “cleanse hands and purify hearts”.

Regrettably, many men will resist the challenge and will not find the
program necessary. Many have more important work to do or are not
willing to empty themselves before God. St. James, pressing us again,
counsels: “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little
time and then vanishes.” Truly, your life may be a mist that appears
and vanishes, but your life with God will last forever. Ponder this with
much thought. As for Exodus, if not today, then soon.

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 Five Steps to

STARTING
STEP ONE: Forming Your Accountability Group
You will need to form a fraternity which will consist of, at best, four
men and a spiritual director. The small size of the group is necessary for
accountability and is essential fraternal bonding. This will likely present
the first hurdle of Exodus 90 as nobody wants to approach a friend, a
colleague or a relative with the awkward question, “Dude, you want
to join a chastity group?” But a dose of reality is good here. Addiction
to pornography and masturbation is pandemic in today’s society.
Moreover, men, having failed more times than they care to admit, are
more and more inclined to despair. Pornographers are wicked and sly
and have learned how to introduce their wares to unassuming men.
The truth is, you do not have to look for pornography as pornography
will come looking for you. Pornographers know the younger a boy is
when he is first exposed to pornography, the more addicted he will be
in adulthood. You may, with great confidence, assume that the men
in your life are secretly and desperately struggling to overcome these
unwelcome habits and struggles. There are always exceptions, but if you
approach a man with respect and concern, he may very well thank you
and welcome your intervention.

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 But even more, most men desire to be better. Rarely is a man so satisfied
with present day mediocrity or the meaningless lives we sometimes
live that he does not, at the very least, express some interest in self-
improvement. Books on self-improvement are sold by the truckload.
Men are busy today and may need much in the way of encouragement to
even consider something as radical as Exodus. On the other hand, it is a
program of only 90 days; the disciplines will not last forever. In the end,
he may find himself in a much better place and ready to live a life more
pleasing to himself, to his family, and to his Savior.

STEP TWO: Fraternity Meetings

In a perfect Exodus 90 setup, the brothers would meet three times a week
for 30 minutes per meeting. The importance of these meetings cannot
be overemphasized, but will need to be adapted to the needs of the local
participants. Skype is a possibility, but the participants will need to be
disciplined and not compromise on these meetings. The meeting agenda
will include discussion of accountability (only necessary details), mutual
encouragement, contemplation of Jesus Christ, discussion of humility,
prayer and a healthy vision of freedom. Ideally, the brothers of the group
will set the time and the day for these meetings. The meetings allow
for a self-report (3-5 minutes each), overall group report (5 minutes),
exhortation/encouragement from the spiritual director, group prayer (5
minutes), and a firm timely conclusion to the 30 minute meeting.

Three meetings a week is practical for college men who live in a dorm or
fraternity, military men who live together on a base, or for seminarians
living in a seminary. Other men, married or working careers, must
commit to meeting at least once each week. As stated above, the
fraternal aspect of Exodus always proves to be a necessity. Men need the
accountability, mentoring, encouragement, and fellowship of other men.
Wives are very quick to support their husbands when they see positive
results as a result of these meetings. Even an early Saturday morning
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 breakfast at a central location can be extremely helpful. Participants in
Exodus have often found that, when one brother is not faring well, the
other brothers seem to struggle, unknowingly, with him. There is a joy
in the comradery as well; when deep in the discipline of Exodus, it is a
comfort to know that one’s brothers are fighting the good fight with him.
It can make all the difference.

[See the next section for a good structure to follow.]

STEP THREE: Accountability Partner

Each man should be assigned a brother to whom he will give an
account of his discipline and struggle on a daily basis. The accounting
may be nothing more than a text message or a quick check-in. Probing
questions of accountability and deep listening/empathy/compassion
is profitable. More importantly, if a brother believes himself to be
struggling beyond his capacity, he ought to feel free to text or email a
request for urgent prayers to his brother or to the group.

Spiritual Director: An Exodus fraternity may have a monk, a

consecrated brother, a deacon or a priest as a spiritual director,
but it will be an exceptional case if the group has access to a
spiritual director. As much as possible, the spiritual director
remains in the background. He does, however, constantly
encourage the men to strive for freedom, to be responsible for
the brotherhood, and he strengthens the men in the joy of
their spiritual work. In addition, the spiritual director, himself,
has much to gain by working the program in solidarity with
his brothers/sons. Use Appendix II of this guide for support.

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 STEP FOUR: Communal/Individual Holy Hour
In the seminary, it was possible to pray a holy hour together as a group
from 5:45 AM to 6:45 AM (Monday-Saturday). The circumstances
of your group, more than likely, will not allow this arrangement.
If it can be arranged, on a college campus, for example, it is highly
recommended. In addition, working men, fathers or those in the
military, for example, may not be able to accomplish a complete holy
hour. Thus, a minimum of 20 minutes of focused prayer per day should
be considered. If a group can meet once or twice a week in a local
parish church or a chapel for prayer, all the better. Family members
may have to be assured that this time away will produce much fruit
and be a blessing for the family in the future. Sunday prayer can be
more freely and individually chosen. Prayer time should stress the Holy
Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, spiritual reading, Scripture, and
seeking the Face of Christ.

STEP FIVE: Embracing the Discipline

Exodus 90 was not designed to be easy. “Easy” will not bring freedom.
The list below can seem overwhelming, especially when one considers
he will be keeping the discipline for 90 days. Keep in mind that many
others have successfully completed the 90 days of Exodus and now
enjoy remarkable freedom. Past participants quickly and universally
came to understand that, as radical as the “do not” list might seem,
modern Christians would profit greatly by embracing greater asceticism
(self-denial). Note: if the list below strikes anger in a man, he must
acknowledge the possibility that he is surrendering control and that can
be unsettling. Ironically, it is in our attempt to “control” that many men
actually fall into the temptation of lust. Before rejecting Exodus and its
possibilities, one might give this some consideration!

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 The Ascetical 90-Day Program:
• cold-lukewarm/short showers
• no alcohol
• no desserts & sweets
• no eating between meals
• no soda or sweetened drinks
• no television or movies (without permission of group)
• only music that lifts the soul to God
• no televised sports (without permission of group)
• computer/mobile device for school/work purposes ONLY
• regular and intense exercise
• group prayer & meetings
• no major material purchases (beyond toiletries, etc.,
without permission of group)
• a minimum of seven hours of sleep each night

In Addition:
• Brotherhood. Past participants have consistently reported
that the fraternity was essential for personal success. Please
do not compromise on the weekly fraternity meetings.
Also consider time together outside of the meeting each
week. For example, a Saturday morning breakfast after the
Friday fast. Lastly, consider taking a fraternity pilgrimage or
adventure at the end of Exodus 90.

• Fasting: Wednesdays and Fridays are to be viewed as

more serious fast days each week. Observe them as the
Church calls us to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good
Friday. Eat one regular meal and two smaller meals.
Abstain from meat.

• Sundays and Solemnities: The disciplines are to be relaxed,

but not abandoned. Consider sleeping in an extra hour,
adding cream to your coffee, having a dessert after a meal,
or a warmer shower.

• Imperative: Be joyful.
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 Self and Group Examination:
During the fraternity meeting, the following list of words may be used
as a focal point for the meeting:

Fear · Control · Anger · Physical Observations of Self/Comparisons

· Over-sensitivity · Lack of Firmness · Softness to Self · Lack of
Initiative · Entitlement · Submissiveness · Over-Docility · Narcissism
· Self-seeking · Superiority/Inferiority Complex: feeling inferior,
not valued, locked out, and lonely, as well as feelings of depression
and grief (self-pity) · Lust Enslavement · Pride · Insincerity ·
Disproportionate Self-love · Lack of Self-discipline · Cowardice ·
Discontentedness· Ingratitude

Nuclear Option
Early in the Exodus experience, the first group decided that, if someone
were to fall, the entire group would return to Egypt (day one) and
begin the journey to the Promised Land (day ninety), again. This is
the challenge: the goal is 90 days of sobriety [only 90!]. Absent those
blessed 90 days, there is NO freedom. The men must rely for support
upon one another, the spiritual leader, and Jesus Christ. You are a new
man now; a man destined for freedom.

Scientific Evidence
A recent best-selling book by Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit:
Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business (Random House Trade
Paperbacks, New York, 2012) offers solid and scientific evidence for the
basis of Exodus 90. Here are some highlights from Mr. Duhigg’s book:

• “How do habits change? There is, unfortunately, no specific set

of steps guaranteed to work for every person. We know that a
habit cannot be eradicated – it must, instead, be replaced. And
we know that habits are most malleable when the Golden Rule
of habit change is applied: If we keep the same cue and the same
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 reward, a new routine can be inserted. [Habit is the result of
receiving a cue which activates a routine and ends in a reward. In
Exodus 90, the reward is nothing less than freedom.]

• “But that is not enough. For a habit to stay changed, people must
believe change is possible. And most often, that belief only emerges
with the help of a group.”

• “If you want to quit smoking, figure out a different routine that
will satisfy the cravings filled by the cigarettes. Then, find a support
group, a collection of other former smokers, or a community that
will help you believe you can stay away from nicotine, and use that
group when you feel you might stumble.”

• “If you want to lose weight, study your habits to determine why
you really leave your desk for a snack each day, and then find
someone else to take a walk with you, a group that tracks weight-
loss goals together, or someone who also wants to keep a stock of
apples, rather than chips, nearby.”

• “The evidence is clear: If you want to change a habit, you

must find an alternative routine, and your odds of success go up
dramatically when you commit to changing as a part of a group.
Belief is essential, and it grows out of a communal experience,
even if that community is only as large as two people.

• “We know that change can happen. Alcoholics can stop

drinking. Smokers can quit puffing. Perennial losers can become
champions. You can stop biting your nails or snacking at work,
yelling at your kids, staying up all night, or worrying over small
concerns…” (pp. 92-93).

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 Pontifical Council for the Family offers a similar synopsis for the
training of Exodus 90: “Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-
mastery, which is a training in human freedom. The alternative is clear:
Either man governs his passions and finds peace, or he lets himself be
dominated by them and becomes unhappy” (The Truth and Meaning of
Human Sexuality 18).

The Immaculate Conception

Mankind was given a great gift in the Queenship of the Virgin
Mother. Our confidence in her is so great, we can state with utter
conviction that, even if you choose not to accept the Exodus 90
challenge, praying the daily Rosary can be extremely effective in
helping a Christian overcome sin. Thus, if you do nothing else, please
consider praying a daily Rosary. Of course, most do not derive much
personal pleasure from praying the Rosary; fair enough, but consider
that your effort is pleasing to your Heavenly Mother, and when you
do pray the Rosary, everything changes. Mary is revealed to us as
the Immaculate Conception, meaning she was preserved from sin
from the first moment of her conception. Thus, her power over sin is
incomprehensible… and she has made herself available to you.

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 Fraternity Meeting

STRUCTURE

STEP ONE: Have the brothers memorize this hymn from

the Book of Revelation that it may be recited at the
beginning of each meeting:

The Redemption Hymn - Revelation 4:11; 5:9, 10, 12

+In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

O Lord our God, you are worthy

to receive glory and honor and power.
For you have created all things;
by your will they came to be and were made.

Worthy are you, O Lord,

to receive the scroll and break open its seals.
For you were slain;
with your blood you purchased for God
men of every race and tongue,
of every people and nation.
You made of them a kingdom,
and priests to serve our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive power and riches,
wisdom and strength,
honor and glory and praise.
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 Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

+In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

[This hymn is found in chapters 4 and 5 of the Book of Revelation. In the Old Testament,
the people of God always sang a song of deliverance following the intervention of God.
Thus, through Baptism and the grace he provided for us to embrace Exodus 90, we, too
can sing the hymn of deliverance. These two hymns, combined here, recall the salvation
Christ won for us by his passion, death and resurrection. The first stanza praises God the
creator of all things; things visible and invisible, that were created “from nothing”. The
scroll mentioned in the second stanza is a metaphor for the crucifixion, a seal which only
Christ could “open”. Thus, he alone was capable of a self-offering powerful enough to
redeem “every people, every nation”. The result is the creation of a nation of men who,
like the Savior, is a nation of priests: men who offer their lives (everything) to the Father.
The hymn concludes praising the Lamb that was slain, Jesus Christ, who possesses seven
(totality) of the highest attributes.]

STEP TWO: Canvas the room and have each man make
an account of his personal freedom.

Each man states one 'up' and one 'down' about his prayer and practice of the
Exodus 90 penances. He may also add one 'up' and one 'down' from his family
and professional life.

The other men are there to listen to and support his brother with
encouragement. It is NOT to become a group therapy session or where one is
bombarded with advice by other members of the fraternity.

The questions below may be helpful for conversation:

“Do I continue to enjoy true freedom? Have I done/am I doing anything

that might jeopardize my freedom? Have I abused the use of technology or
social media? Am I angry, apathetic, depressed, overwhelmed, or reclusive?
Am I communicating well with my spouse, sons and daughters, parishioners,
members of my community? Am I exercising and eating good food? Have I
used my freedom to love God more fully and my neighbor (family and friends
and others) more perfectly?”

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 STEP THREE: Discuss a pre-assigned section from
the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Sacred Scripture,
Church Fathers, Works on Masculine Spirituality, or an
article from Those Catholic Men. Visit Exodus90.com/
day91 for more resources.

STEP FOUR: Fraternity Maintenance: Review, discuss,

and assess the regimen of Exodus 90 that you have
adopted as your Rule.

Set/update/review fraternal goals and plans for the future (A Work of Mercy,
a camping trip, a cook-out with family, the next meeting, etc). Ask: Is there an
adjustment that the fraternity needs to make? How can the fraternity serve
each man better?

STEP FIVE: Close with prayer intentions and the Prayer

of St. Michael for the protection of the Church and our
families:

Prayer of Saint Michael the Archangel

St. Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
cast into hell Satan,
and all evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

[St. Michael has always been the protector of the people of God and has intervened
for them during many critical moments. He is the quintessential foe of Satan who
proclaimed, “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will make myself like the
Most High.” The name of St. Michael means, “Who is like God?” Thus, Michael, when in
the presence of Satan, is the ultimate irritation: One claims to be “like the Most High”
and the other declares, “Who is like God?”]
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 The Married Man &

HIS WIFE

Those men who undertake the disciplines of Exodus 90 and are also
married have an additional component to consider, namely their wife
(and possibly children). While the man will go through this journey
with his fraternity of men, it is inevitable that his wife will also be a
part of the journey. For each man, but especially husbands, his new
habits will have an impact not just on him but on those who rely on
him. If he had been in the habit of watching TV with his wife and kids
in the evening, what will the next 90 days be like? When will he make
time to meet with his Exodus 90 fraternity and how will this impact
the family? Will his fasting and abstaining impact how the family takes
its meals together? These and other things are likely to come up in the
course of the 90 days.

It is important, then, to make sure that the purpose and expectations

for the program are understood by all. A priest providing spiritual
direction to one group of men reminded them to not set their own
expectations. God will decide not only what fruits will come to each
man, but also the timing. The man should not define what the results
of the program should be for him, and just as importantly neither
should his wife. Further, the role of the Exodus 90 fraternity is to

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 give the man an opportunity to discuss trustfully and with complete
honesty the challenges and temptations and successes he is experiencing
on his journey. He should as well strive to share his journey with
his wife as much as he is comfortable, perhaps even to the point of
discomfort, but it is his fraternity who should hold him accountable to
his disciplines.

One wife commented that she came to realize it was not the wife's job
to judge how well her husband adhered to the disciplines, to define
what the results of the disciplines should be, to look at the disciplines
with resentment or as a burden on her, nor to push her husband to
share every detail or struggle of his journey. In prayer she was led to
the idea that her role was to provide support and comfort, to listen
when called upon, and to prayerfully offer to the Lord on behalf of her
husband any challenges the program brought her way. The program,
she realized, would put enough pressure on her husband and it was
not necessary for her to add more. She wrote, "We [wives]should be
encouraging their dedication to becoming more virtuous men. We
should be praising their successes. We should be consoling them in
their struggles. We should be praying for God's work to be done on
them through this program."

This may well mean that a wife and family may encounter their
own sacrifices during the 90 days, such as having meatless meals or
not watching a sporting event together on TV. These are wonderful
opportunities for the family to prayerfully enter into the journey with
the man as a way of encouragement.

At the same time, a husband should seek to minimize the impact

of his disciplines on his family. If he is one to become cranky when
fasting, he will be challenged to not take this out on his family. Just
because he is not drinking alcohol does not mean he cannot go to
a social engagement with his wife and simply accept the challenge
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 of not drinking. A significant reason a married man would engage
in Exodus 90 is his effort to be a more virtuous husband and father.
Causing strife within the family by being too focused on the difficulty
of his challenges at the expense of the family is an impediment to fully
realizing the grace the program can bring.

In the end, Exodus 90 provides the married couple a fantastic

opportunity to more concretely respond to St. Paul's exhortations
in the book of Ephesians. For wives he writes, "Wives should be
subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord" (Eph 5:22). But even
more importantly for husbands, especially within the context of Exodus
90, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and
handed himself over for her" (Eph 5:25). For the man each one of the
disciplines, each moment of sacrifice, each uncomfortable moment or
bit of suffering, can be used to unite himself to the suffering of Christ's
Passion, and also with the aim of not just his own sanctification but
also the sanctification of his wife. If both the husband and wife can
enter into Exodus 90 with a truly sacrificial mindset the graces it will
bring to the marriage are many!

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 Scripture Used:

KNOX TRANSLATION

T
he Knox Translation of the Bible, used for your edification
and convenience in the following pages, is available at
Baronius Press: www.baroniuspress.com

The translation of the Bible by Ronald Knox was officially made at

the request of the Bishops of England and Wales, although Knox had
wanted to try his hand at updating the language of the Bible for some
time.

It had been the desire of a succession of bishops for almost a 100 years
to create a new Bible translation to replace the Douay Rheims edition.
This Bible which had served English speaking Catholics since the time
of the reformation had undergone several revisions, but was filled with
archaic language, making it incomprehensible in a few places.

Originally, it was hoped that Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman,

the most famous convert to Catholicism of the 19th Century would
translate the Bible, but this project was never begun. In his book, The
Idea of a University, Blessed John Henry Newman pointed out the
“great difficulty in combining the two necessary qualities, fidelity to the
original and purity in the adopted vernacular.”
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21
 Although the Douay translation was much loved and gave many
passages of Holy Scripture that are still well-known today, it was felt
that the translation was too difficult to understand. A new translation
would bring the gospel message to a much wider audience.

The English bishops gave him permission to start just before World
War II broke out. It was initially planned that he would report his work
to a team of evaluators, but the wartime difficulty of communication
made that impractical, so he worked entirely on his own. When it came
out after the war, there was some predictable criticism from people
who liked either the King James version or Challoner’s revision of the
Douay-Rheims. Knox even wrote a small booklet to explain how he
had gone about translating the Bible in order to placate the critics.

Knox’s bible also received great acclaim when it was first published.
Time magazine called Knox the “man who made the great 20th
century bible.”

Even the Archbishop of Canterbury of the time recommended it, and

it became the preferred translation of Fulton Sheen. The Bishops
were so pleased with the completed version that it was authorized
for liturgical use, and the Knox translation of the Bible was used
as the official version in the churches of Great Britain, Ireland and
Australia for the decade leading up to Vatican II – and the first version
sanctioned for liturgical use in England and Wales.

22
 DAY ONE

GOD ALONE GRANTS DELIVERANCE

Exodus 1:1-7 “Here are the names of Israel’s sons; these were the
men who betook themselves to Egypt, each with his family,
when Jacob went there; Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Juda, Issachar,
Zabulon and Benjamin, Dan and Nephthali, Gad and Aser. There
were seventy souls altogether that came from Jacob’s stock,
but of these, Joseph was in Egypt already. When he and his
brethren and all their next descendants were dead, the race of
Israel grew into a teeming multitude, in such strength that the
whole land was peopled with them.”

day 1 meditation

W e begin our challenging journey from slavery to freedom by

examining the opening paragraph of the ancient Book of
Exodus. At first glance, a man may be inclined to wonder how he

23
 might possibly profit from the Scripture set before him. Do not quickly
discount the divine message! After establishing that the sons of Jacob
were in fact living in Egypt, we are told something very significant
in verse seven: “But the descendants of Israel were fruitful and increased
greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong; so that the land was
filled with them.” As you know, the Book of Exodus is about freedom
from slavery. But why? At the very beginning of the story, we read that
the Hebrew people were not just strong, but “exceedingly strong”. The
question any man should ask is plain: why on earth should the Hebrew
people be enslaved when they were “exceedingly strong?” Later, we
will see that the Pharaoh of Egypt even feared the Hebrew people. A
man should find this entirely counterintuitive. Why then, were they
enslaved? Why would they not rise up and free themselves? What kind
of people were these that they, even though in possession of so great a
power, were so pathetic as to remain enslaved to a tyrant?

What consolation! The Book of Exodus is our story as we will see! This
ancient text is a metaphor for modern men; whether we are enslaved
by lust, or technology, or food or drink, or to any other thing, we find
ourselves helplessly enslaved all the same. As a matter of fact, being
enslaved does not mean that a man is weak. In most cases, his brain
and body are actually quite strong… more than likely his strength is
the very reason he finds himself enslaved. Men are powerful, and when
a man tries to negotiate life and its many difficulties, he eagerly grasps
at anything which will bring him consolation and security. Over the
course of his life, most especially in his youth, he finds and puts to use
things or activities which he believes will make him happy. He uses
these things to his perceived advantage. But later in life he begins to
understand that he has been deceived; these things are not helpful and
are devoid of truth and the happiness he pursues/expects/demands.
But as much as he may later desire freedom, his brain continues to
pursue what he has been led to believe is beneficial to him – a truth he

24
 finds in mind but not in his will. Thus, there is no shame! An addicted
man is not weak; he very well may be exceedingly strong. And, like the
Hebrews, a man in this situation is positioned to learn the single most
important truth of the Sacred Scripture: God alone grants deliverance.
Just as the Hebrew people were exceedingly strong, but unable to free
themselves, so modern man discovers the same. How many times have
you made great attempts to “set yourself free,” only to discover you are
unable to do so? Thousands? So, as we begin this incredible journey,
never (stress never) forget this singularly awesome truth; you can do
this…but it will be God who grants deliverance.

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 WEEK ONE:
ACTION LIST

1) Men often feel the need to control. The anxiety a man feels
as he discerns whether he will engage Exodus is largely the result of
turning control over to God. Trust him with all your strength. You
must recall this truth every day of the Exodus journey. You must
remind your brothers of this truth. It will be key to “your” success.
God grants deliverance!

2) Learn anew to place control in the hands of God. As a

knight would place his sword on the altar and, in return, receive the
power of God, you must do the same. As a part of your morning
prayer now, and for the rest of your life, thank God with great
confidence that he will never abandon you… he will always deliver
you from every evil.

3) Pray for your brothers. Pray, like the Hebrews who were saved as a
tribe (and not individually), that God will deliver your team and all men
awaiting deliverance from addiction, selfishness, apathy and control.

4) The first week of Exodus is often a joy; finally, we think, we

are getting somewhere. Hold on to this joy and conviction, Exodus
with become more challenging, but you can do this. Be sure to build
your fraternity; you will need it as much as your brothers.

5) We highly recommend using Covenant Eyes monitoring

software during the program, both for those overcoming addiction
and others generally desiring a more intentional use of the internet.
Insert the promo code “Exodus90” upon checkout at www.
CovenantEyes.com, and you will receive the first 30 days of the
software free of charge.
®

26
 DAY TWO

THE DAILY TASKS OF LIFE CAN

BURDEN MEN AND MAKE THEM WEAK

Exodus 1:8-14 “Meanwhile, a new king of Egypt had arisen, who

knew nothing of Joseph. See, he said to his people, how the
race of the Israelites has grown, till they are stronger than we
are. We must go prudently about it and keep them down, or
their numbers will grow; what if war threatens, and they make
common cause with our enemies? They will get the better of us,
and leave our country altogether. So he made them answerable
to officers of the public works, who laid crushing burdens
on them, using them to build the store-cities of Phithom
and Ramesses; but the more they were ill-treated, the more
they bred and multiplied. The Egyptians, in their abhorrence
for the Israelites, oppressed and insulted them, making their
lives a burden with drudgery in the clay-pit and the brick-kiln,
drudgery, too, of all kinds in the cultivation of the land.”

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 day 2 meditation

T he Book of Exodus is fascinating in that it is truly the story of

every man, something we can see clearly in today’s Scripture
passage. Contemplate this question: The Egyptians were filled with
anxiety that the Hebrew people might become “too mighty” to be
controlled and that they might “fight against us” [the Egyptians]. The
Egyptians were clever in the manner in which they dealt with the
Hebrews; they “set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy
burdens.” In other words, they preoccupied the men with tasks, many
tasks. Oddly enough, the men became less concerned about their
freedom and their own power as they were too busy with “the daily
grind.” Who has time for heroics when a man has so much to do;
or rather, is so enslaved he has no time to look up and consider his
circumstances. So the men worked harder for their taskmaster, and
unexpectedly grew in their power, and all the while, remained enslaved.
“So they made the people of Israel serve with rigor, and made their lives
bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work
in the field; in all their work they made them serve with rigor.” Today,
think of the mortar and brick that preoccupies your on life: endless
work, frenetic activity, always trying to get ahead; and all the other
things the taskmaster uses to enslave us: alcohol, pornography and lust,
pride and fear of failure, competition with others, money and status.
Our taskmaster (the Evil One) uses the “mortar” and “brick” in our
lives to control us, to keep us from our true destiny, to keep us from
getting “too strong.” Like pharaoh, he is good at his craft and jealous
for his own power.

The result is the life so many of us know today: these tasks, the mortar
and brick of our lives, can “make our lives bitter.” Removing these tasks
and the mortar and brick can demonstrate that we do not need to be
beholden to them. Removing these things can teach us that we can live
without them; that they need not hold us bound and distract us from
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 the more important things of life. Every man dreads the possibility that
he spent his entire life providing for his family, for example, and failed
to be with them, attentive to them. And, of course, many come to
realize this when it is entirely too late. Of course, a father, for example,
has much he must do. But most of us, in the modern world, would
greatly benefit from simplifying his life. Time spent identifying where
life might be simplified will pay great dividends.

REVIEW THIS WEEK'S

ACTION LIST

29
 DAY THREE

MOVE FORWARD

Exodus 1:15-22 “Then the king of Egypt gave orders to Sephora and
Phua, the midwives who attended the Hebrews; When you are
called in, he said, to attend the Hebrew women, and their time
comes, kill the child if it is a boy; if it is a girl keep it alive. But
these midwives feared the Lord, and would not carry out the
commands of the king of Egypt; they kept the boys safe; and
when the king summoned them and asked, What do you mean
by sparing the boys too? they answered, The Hebrew women are
not like those of Egypt; they are skilled in midwifery, and contrive
to give birth before we reach them. For this, God rewarded the
midwives; while his people grew and attained great strength, he
gave the midwives, too, families of their own, as women who
feared God. And at last Pharao made a proclamation to the whole
of his people: Whenever a male child is born, cast it into the river,
keep only the girls alive.”

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 day 3 meditation

P haraoh, so frightened of the Hebrew people rising up from their

enslavement, instructs midwives to do something absolutely
grotesque - to kill every infant boy they deliver, to suffocate Israel’s
future. While the midwives heroically elude this request, the Pharaoh is
unrelenting and calls for the male children’s drowning in the Nile River.

It is day three. No doubt the excitement of a new regimen with all of its
sacrificial bravado is beginning to wane as the cries of your body demand
its familiar comforts.

This sets up a scene all too familiar for a man striving to grow in virtue.
St. Methodius teaches us that Pharaoh is a “type” of devil here, calling
for the death of a man’s virtue. He explains that the waters of the Nile are
like our passions, to which the Evil One would have us cast our souls to
drown. This way, while the offspring of slavery lives on (sin) the offspring
of virtue suffocates. Every man know the pain of this dreaded interior
suffocation whether it be the loneliness that pornography ensures, the
emptiness that alcohol abuse guarantees, or the boredom that inevitably
follows an unexamined life of unending pursuits for entertainment.

Nonetheless, here you are on day three of your liberation from these
things. What once enslaved you is now the means by which you become
free as you march away from them. St. Augustine observes this irony in
the great Exodus where the Hebrew people walk through the Red Sea
to freedom – The people once condemned to drown, trapped in slavery,
now walk through the sea on the way to freedom.

Our culture surrounds us with constant invitation to mindless and

destructive pleasures. Even as we walk away from these things, it feels as
though we are moving through them. In this way, we are like the Hebrew
people with two giant walls of water to our left and right, but with the
power of God making our way, we only have one task: move forward.

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 DAY FOUR

ALL WE NEED FOR FREEDOM

WAS GIVEN TO US IN BAPTISM

Exodus 2:1-10 “And now one of the descendants of Levi wooed and
married a woman of his own clan, who conceived and bore him a
son. So winning were the child’s looks, that for three months she
kept him hidden away; then, unable to conceal him any longer,
she took a little basket of reeds, which she smeared with clay and
pitch, and in this put her baby son down among the bulrushes on
the river bank. The boy’s sister waited at a distance, to see what
would happen.

Just then, Pharao’s daughter came down to bathe in the river,

while her maid-servants walked along the bank. She caught sight
of the basket among the rushes, and sent one of her attendants
to fetch it; and when she opened it, and saw the baby crying,
her heart was touched. Why, she said, this must be one of the
Hebrew children. And at that, the boy’s sister asked, Wouldst

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 thou have me go and fetch one of the Hebrew women, to nurse
the child for thee? Go by all means, she said; and the girl went
and fetched her mother. Take this boy, Pharao’s daughter said,
and nurse him for me; I will reward thee for it. So the woman took
the boy and nursed him till he was grown; then she handed him
over to Pharao’s daughter, who adopted him as her own son, and
gave him the name of Moses, the Rescuer; I had to rescue him,
she said, from the river."

day 4 meditation

W hen something unforeseen and radical happens in our lives or

in the life of God’s people, we can nearly be assured that God
is moving. We see this in today’s scripture passage. The Hebrew people
are enslaved in Egypt with little to no hope of ever seeing freedom
when all of a sudden God raises a liberator. As we will see in the days to
come, the birth of Moses and his vocation as a liberator will foreshadow
or precede a great liberator to come: Jesus Christ. We can begin to
see, even now, the similarities between these two figures. Moses, as
we can see, is sired by an unnamed man, he is a “goodly” child, and
he is placed in a basket on the river for three days. Recall that Mary
was found to be “with child” without the assistance of her betrothed.
Both are goodly children; we read of Jesus, after he is discovered in the
Temple, he “was obedient to them (Joseph and Mary) and “increased
in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man” (Luke
2:51-52). Note also that both children were rescued from ruthless and
paranoid leaders who sought to kill them rather than lose their power
(Matthew 2:16). The number three ought to call to mind many events
in the life of Christ: the three days the child is lost and found in the
Temple, the three days Christ is in the tomb, his public ministry began
in his 30th year. Jesus will be revealed as a New Liberator, and will
figure large in our own quest for freedom.
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 Finally, and most significantly, Moses is given his name, because the
daughter of Pharaoh proclaimed, “I drew him out of the water.” You,
too, were drawn “out of the water” when you were baptized, most
probably as an infant. You were rescued from the tyranny of the Evil
One and given everything required to be a son of the Most High.
Moses was saved through water, the Hebrew people were saved through
water (Exodus 14) and you, too, were saved through the waters of
Baptism. Baptism, today, is often a forgotten rite of passage. The grace
and power of the Sacrament of Baptism is largely forgotten. But St.
Paul was adamant: “Do you not know that all of us who have been
baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death…. so that as
Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too
might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3). Newness of life is what
we seek in the discipline of Exodus. Jesus, too, gave us the undeniable
command: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved…” Thus, we
would do well to recall the grace of our own Baptism and “rekindle the
gift of God that is within you” (2 Timothy 1:6) that you might have all
that is necessary to acquire real and lasting freedom!

REVIEW THIS WEEK'S

ACTION LIST

34
 DAY FIVE

MEN ARE MADE FOR OTHERS

Exodus 2:11-25 “And now one of the descendants of Levi wooed and
married a woman of his own clan, who conceived and bore him a son.
So winning were the child’s looks, that for three months she kept him
hidden away; then, unable to conceal him any longer, she took a little
basket of reeds, which she smeared with clay and pitch, and in this
put her baby son down among the bulrushes on the river bank. The
boy’s sister waited at a distance, to see what would happen. Just then,
Pharao’s daughter came down to bathe in the river, while her maid-
servants walked along the bank. She caught sight of the basket among
the rushes, and sent one of her attendants to fetch it; and when she
opened it, and saw the baby crying, her heart was touched. Why, she
said, this must be one of the Hebrew children. And at that, the boy’s
sister asked, Wouldst thou have me go and fetch one of the Hebrew
women, to nurse the child for thee? Go by all means, she said; and
the girl went and fetched her mother. Take this boy, Pharao’s daughter
said, and nurse him for me; I will reward thee for it. So the woman
took the boy and nursed him till he was grown; then she handed him
over to Pharao’s daughter, who adopted him as her own son, and gave
him the name of Moses, the Rescuer; I had to rescue him, she said,
from the river.

35
 So it came about that Moses bound himself by an oath to live there with
Raguel, and wedded his daughter Sephora. The first son she bore him
he called Gersam, as if he would say, I have been a stranger, Ger, in an
alien land. And when she bore another son, Moses called him Eliezer,
Help from God; the God of my father (said he) has helped me to escape
from the power of Pharao. Then, after a long while, the king of Egypt
died, and the cry of the Israelites, still groaning aloud in their drudgery,
went up to God, who took pity on this drudgery of theirs, and listened
to their complaint; he had not forgotten the covenant which he made
with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So it was that the Lord looked down in
mercy on the Israelites, and took heed of them.”

day 5 meditation

W hen men are at their best, when they are at their finest, they are truly
“men for others.” A mature and self-mastered man, raised and approved
by God, is a man with great power. But what makes a man truly great is his
willingness to serve others, to use his power for “the other” – be it his wife,
children, brothers, neighbors, Church, or country. In today’s Scripture passage,
we see Moses stand in solidarity with the poor and the oppressed and he uses
his youthful power to intervene in order to help others. He did not assume that,
for example, the daughters of Reuel could fend for themselves and stand against
the rogue shepherds. Thus, it goes, that when we, as men, are focused on the
care, support and defense of those who are weaker and in need, God can and
will use us and our power for the good of others. Soon, we will see this when
God will raise Moses to be a great liberator and judge of his people. We, in the
modern era, have fallen into a grave habit of placing our own needs and wants
first, and then considering others second, if at all. Today and every day, we must
divorce ourselves from the current practices of the culture and make an act of
the will, daily if necessary, to overcome our own needs in favor of those around
us. Take this to prayer today. Who depends on you? Who admires you for
standing against injustice and oppression? Who entrusts himself/herself to you
as a dependable man who can be relied upon to offer assistance, who will not
stand by in an idle manner so as not to get involved? Life truly has purpose and
meaning when we generously give of ourselves to others or to a cause or to the
Church. Otherwise, what is the point of life?
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 DAY SIX

GOD CHOOSES US BEFORE WE CHOSE HIM

Exodus 3:1-6 “Moses, in the meanwhile, had married the daughter

of Jethro, priest of Madian, and was doing shepherd’s work for
him. Deep into the desert he led his flock, till he reached God’s
own mountain of Horeb. And here the Lord revealed himself
through a flame that rose up from the midst of a bush; it seemed
that the bush was alight, yet did not burn. Here is a great sight,
said Moses, I must go up and see more of it, a bush that does
not waste by burning. But now, as he saw him coming up to look
closer, the Lord called to him from the midst of the bush, Moses
Moses; and when he answered, I am here, at thy command, he
was told, Do not come nearer; rather take the shoes from thy
feet, thou art standing on holy ground. Then he said, I am the
God thy father worshipped, the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and
Jacob. And Moses hid his face; he dared not look on the open
sight of God.”

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 day 6 meditation

O f important note in today’s Scripture passage is the manner in

which God and Moses come to their profound friendship. Moses
does not go in search of God and find him. This rarely happens, if
ever. Rather, God comes to Moses first. As we see, Moses was about
his business when God reveals himself to Moses, and allows Moses to
respond. St. Teresa of Avila often used the metaphor of a sunflower.
When the sun rises in the morning and her rays flood the world, a
sunflower, having been “found” by the sun, will literally turn its head
toward the sun. Likewise, any movement toward God is first God’s
initiative. In other words, God “finds” us and then we, in response,
turn toward him. That is the essence of the spiritual life. Thus, God finds
Moses on the Mount of Horeb and Moses “turns toward him” saying, “I
will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.”

There may be a thousand reasons why a man will engage Exodus. But
it must be acknowledged that a man did not choose to do Exodus, it
was God himself who moves the man, by grace, to attempt Exodus,
and as such, opens him to a more profound relationship with himself.
Likewise, your good intentions and determination to complete the
Exodus experience did not come from you, it came from God. In
Exodus, or in any number of ways, God’s intention is to reveal himself
to you. Thus, use this sacred time to “turn toward God” to discover
him even as he has discovered you!

REVIEW THIS WEEK'S

ACTION LIST

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 DAY SEVEN

GOD GIVES US HIS POWER

Exodus 3:7-22 “I have not been blind, the Lord told him, to the
oppression which my people endures in Egypt, I have listened to
their complaints about the cruelty of the men who are in charge
of their work. I know what their sufferings are, and I have come
down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians; to take
them away into a fruitful land and large, a land that is all milk and
honey, where the Chanaanites dwell, and the Hethites, and the
Amorrhites, and the Pherezites, and the Hevites, and the Jebusites.
Yes, the cry of Israel’s race has reached my ears, I have watched
how their Egyptian oppressors ill-treat them. Up, I have an errand
for thee at Pharao’s court; thou art to lead my people, the sons of
Israel, away out of Egypt. At this, Moses said to God, Ah, who am I,
that thou shouldst send me to Pharao? Who am I that I should lead
the sons of Israel out of Egypt? I will be with thee, God said to him.
And here is a sign for thee, that thy mission comes from me; when
thou hast brought my people out of Egypt, thou wilt find thyself

39
 offering sacrifice to God on this mountain. But Moses still pleaded
with God: How if I appear before the Israelites with the message
that the God of their fathers has sent me to them, and they ask
me, What is his name? What answer shall I make? And God said
to Moses, I am the God who IS; thou shalt tell the Israelites, THE
GOD WHO IS has sent me to you. And he charged Moses again,
That is what thou shalt tell the sons of Israel, that he who bears this
name, the God of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has sent
thee to them, and this is the name he will be known by for ever; it
shall stand recorded, age after age.

Go then, and summon the elders of Israel to meet thee. Tell

them that the Lord, the God of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob has appeared to thee, with this message: Day after day I
have watched, and seen all that has befallen you in Egypt. And
now I mean to take you away from Egypt, where it goes so hard
with you, into the land of the Chanaanites, the Hethites, the
Amorrhites, the Pherezites, the Hevites, and the Jebusites; a land
that is all milk and honey. The elders of Israel will give thee a good
hearing; and with them thou shalt make thy way into the king
of Egypt’s presence. The Lord God of the Hebrews, thou shalt
tell him, has summoned us to go out three days’ march into the
desert, and there we must offer sacrifice to the Lord our God.
I know well enough that the king of Egypt will not let you go,
except under strong compulsion; I must needs exert my power,
and smite the Egyptians with all the portents I mean to do among
them, before he will give you leave. And I will let you have your
way with the Egyptians; when you go you shall not go empty-
handed. Each woman shall claim from her neighbour, or from
some woman that lodges with her, gold and silver trinkets, and
clothes to dress your sons and daughters in; such toll you shall
take of the Egyptians.”
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 day 7 meditation

A s we have indicated in earlier days, God, alone, grants freedom.

We see this in the story of the Hebrew people. In today’s
Scripture, God comes to Moses and tells him that he will, first, release
them from the grip of the Egyptians, and, second, put them in the
“promised land” which happens to be inhabited by the Canaanites,
the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites
– the enemies of the Hebrews. Can you imagine what Moses was
thinking? “You intend to free us from our slave master (which cannot
go well) only to drop is in the middle of all our other enemies?” Is
it any wonder that Moses wanted to be left alone! But to give Moses
courage, God does something utterly unthinkable: He reveals his sacred
name to Moses. “I AM WHO I AM.” We have lost the significance or
the theology of names in the modern world. In ancient times, to know
another’s name was to have power over him. For example, that is why
Adam names the animals in the Garden of Eden – Adam was declaring
or asserting his superiority over the animal kingdom (Genesis 2:20).
When God reveals his name, I AM WHO I AM, to Moses, he is also
lending him his divine power. How can Moses question his plight,
and the plight of his people, now? All that is needed is trust; trust that
God will fulfill his promise that he will not leave Moses and his people
abandoned.

Also note the significance of the mission given to Moses and the
message he gave to the Hebrews: “I AM has sent me to you.” Again,
Moses prefigures Jesus Christ. Just as Moses was sent by God to the
Hebrew people, Christ was sent by the Father to liberate you. “Fear is
useless,” Jesus once said, “what is needed is trust” (Luke 8:50). As you
work the disciplines of Exodus, dying to yourself and struggling all the
while, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus Christ. He was sent to us to deliver
us from ourselves, from sin, from enslavement. It is a great consolation
to know that as we fight for freedom in the day to day struggle,
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 God fights with and for us. But most importantly, we must always
remember that Jesus was given to us that we might return to the Father,
to be in relationship to him. God delivers us and gives us freedom that
we might choose him; choose to love him.

Incidentally, this may be the very reason we never seem to overcome

our sinfulness: we are trying to do so alone. God grants deliverance. He
very well may be waiting for you to grasp the depth of that truth.

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 DAY EIGHT

RESTORING WHAT WAS LOST BY A

RETURNING TO WHAT WAS FORGOTTEN

Exodus 4:1-9 “But Moses still had his answer; What if they will not
believe me, he said, or give a hearing? What if they tell me to
my face that I never had any vision of the Lord? What is that in
thy hand? the Lord asked him. A staff, he said. So the Lord bade
him cast it on the ground, and when he did so, it turned into a
serpent, and Moses shrank away. Now put out thy hand, the Lord
said, and catch it by the tail. He did so, and it turned to a staff in
his hand. And the word came to him, Will they still doubt that the
Lord God of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has appeared
to thee? And now the Lord had a fresh command for him, Put thy
hand into thy bosom; and, doing so, he found that it came out
a leper’s hand, white as snow. Now, said he, put it back in thy
bosom again; so he put it back, and this time, when he brought it
out, the skin on it was no different from the rest of his skin. And
the Lord said, If credence and hearing thou canst not gain, with

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 the first sign for thy warrant, the evidence of this second sign will
make them believe thee. And if even two signs are not enough
to convince them and make them listen to thee, thou hast but
to take water from the river and pour it out on the ground; the
water thou hast drawn out of the river will turn into blood.”

day 8 meditation

H ere, God shows his power and the works he can accomplish in
his people – most consoling, he can heal. Sickness and healing
are a common theme throughout the Scriptures. Ailments which could
render a person unfit to provide for himself or his family could also
render a person “unclean” and socially/spiritually repugnant. Moses
puts his hand into his breast and pulls it out to discover it afflicted with
leprosy. God invites him to do this a second time to discover that it his
unclean hand is healed.

Cassiodorus, an early Church Father, shows what would befall the

Hebrew people when they reject Christ…but also what miracles would
occur if they return. So it is with us. Today, as you make your way to
the Adoration Chapel or to your particular place of prayer, remember
that the healing your soul receives from this Exodus journey only
comes from Christ. Do not neglect your prayer. A daily return to
Christ guarantees the miracle of purification.

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ACTION LIST

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 WEEK TWO:
ACTION LIST

1) At the beginning of the second week of Exodus, you would

do well to “take a breath.” Exodus is not for everyone, certainly not
for the feeble. But do not underestimate the grace of God. Just as he
accompanied the Hebrew people in their escape from Egypt, he will
accompany you and your brothers. Seek peace; be calm; the reward is
great; pray for freedom.

2) Often during Exodus, you will be alone. Nobody will monitor

your progress and nobody will see you were you to “cheat” on the
disciplines. Exodus is a personal commitment. Of course, you will be
tempted to given in from time to time. Remind yourself, you are not
so much denying yourself this pleasure or that, but rather, you deprive
yourself the things of this world in exchange for a deeper participation
in the life of God himself… a worthy exchange!

3) Alumni of Exodus recall that, in moments of weakness when

he “gave in” and, for example, took a hot shower, found that the
remainder of the day was filled with temptation. Not only that, but his
brothers found the day difficult as well, something to be kept in mind.

4) Encourage your brothers. A simple text, email, phone call, or

word from you might be the very encouragement a brother needs to
overcome a moment of weakness.

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 DAY NINE

HOPE IN GOD

Exodus 4:10-17 “Then Moses said, Lord, have patience with me; but
all my life I have been a man of little eloquence, and now that
thou, my Master, hast spoken to me, I am more faltering, more
tongue-tied than ever. Why, the Lord said to him, who was it that
fashioned man’s mouth? Who is it that makes a man dumb or deaf,
clear-sighted or blind, if not I? Go as thou art bidden; I will speak
with thy mouth, telling thee what words to utter. But still he said,
Lord have patience with me; wilt thou not choose some fitting
emissary? And now the Lord was angry with Moses; What of thy
brother Aaron (the Levite)? he asked. I know him to be a man of
ready speech. He is even now on his way to meet thee, and will
give thee a joyful welcome when he finds thee. To him thou shalt
repeat my message, entrusting it to his lips; through his lips I will
speak, and through thine, telling you what I would have you do. He
shall be thy spokesman, giving out thy message to the people, and

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 thou shalt be his representative with God. And take this staff of
thine with thee; thou hast portents to bring about by means of it.”

day 9 meditation

G od comes across in today’s reading somewhat as a tyrant. Having

weighed the gravity of the mission set before him, Moses believes
he has come up short – he believes he is incapable of accomplishing
the task that God has asked of him. As so many men do today, Moses
lacks self-confidence in himself and in the Lord God. To be certain,
God was not angry at Moses because he was not eloquent, “the anger
of the LORD was kindled against Moses” because Moses lacked faith
in God and he allowed his hope to vanish. Over the course of the
years, God will test us in many ways, just as he did Moses in today’s
readings. Of course, he does not test us to learn anything about us, he
tests us that we might learn something about ourselves. Following this
incident, it was made clear to Moses that he lacked the virtue of hope:
that he believed himself to be inadequate, which is okay, but he allowed
his hope in the Lord to fail him, which is problematic. Moses must
quickly learn that, if he is to lead the people of God and accomplish
the impossible, he must learn to depend entirely upon God. His fear is
an outward admission that he lacked faith and trust in God.

Likewise, God asks us to do many things. The 90 days of Exodus, in

itself, is a great test. Learn from Moses: you will fail this exercise if
you do not, truly, place your trust in God. So often, in our fear, we
take control from the hand of God and we wield it ourselves. In this
state, even if we succeed, we do so at a great personal cost to ourselves
and sometimes to those whom we love. As Ignatius of Loyola taught,
work as if everything depended upon you, and pray as if everything
depended on God. Thus will you accomplish great things.

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 DAY TEN

WHAT KIND OF MAN WILL YOU BE?

Exodus 4:18-31 "Then Moses made his way back to his father-in-
law, Jethro; Give me leave, he said, to return to Egypt, and see
whether my brethren there are still living. And Jethro said, Go in
peace. From Madian, then, the Lord bade Moses return to Egypt;
all those who had threatened his life were dead. So Moses took
his wife and children, with his ass to carry them, and returned to
Egypt, with the staff, divinely appointed, in his hand. And as he
went back to Egypt, the Lord said to him, Thy part is to do all the
wonders I put it in thy power to do, in Pharao’s presence. But I
mean to harden his heart, so that he refuses to let my people go;
and then thou shalt give him this message: Israel, says the Lord,
is my first-born son, and when I bade thee give this son of mine
leave to go and worship me, that leave was refused; I come to
claim the life of thy first-born in return.

On this journey, at one of his halting-places, the Lord came in

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 his path and threatened him with death, until Sephora took a
sharp stone, and circumcised her son with it; then, touching her
husband’s feet with the flesh, she said, Now we are betrothed in
blood. And as she said the words, Betrothed in blood, after the
circumcision, the Lord consented to spare him. Meanwhile the Lord
had told Aaron to go out and meet Moses in the desert; so he set
out and met him at God’s mountain, and greeted him with a kiss.
And Moses told Aaron all the message the Lord had entrusted to
him, and the wonders he had commissioned him to perform. So
together they went and summoned all the elders of the Israelite
race to meet them; and when Aaron told them all the Lord had said
to Moses, and shewed the people the appointed signs, the people
were convinced. At last the Lord had come to enquire after the
sons of Israel, and had witnessed their affliction; they would bow
down and worship."

day 10 meditation

C onsider the two men in today’s Scripture passage. The first, Moses,
knew his standing before the Lord. He is not haughty or arrogant;
yet, he maintains his dignity and is even given privilege from the Lord.
Moses is significant to the Lord and the Lord has empowered him to free
his people, his “first-born son,” that “he may serve me.” In other words,
all things will work out for the best for the Hebrew people because of
their relationship with God. On the other hand, Pharaoh is haughty and
arrogant; so much so, that he would declare himself divine and his subjects
would accept him as so. This is the reason God threatens Pharaoh and
his first born son; eventually, he will destroy Pharaoh’s progeny and his
dynasty, proving even to Pharaoh that is but a man.
Contemporary men often imitate Pharaoh. Few would be as brazen to
declare himself divine, but man often acts as such: determining his own
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 truth, setting his own course, refusing to depend on God and living a
sovereign life. Even the Hebrews would need to be taught: the forty years
in the desert was not a nature walk. God sent his people into the desert
that they might learn to depend upon him that they might understand
that God is God and the people were his first-born son. After all, since the
time of Adam, man has had a rebellious heart – a heart that would often
rebel against the God of the Universe, his own Father. And this remains the
greatest challenge for a man’s spirituality: the ability to call out to God as
his Father.

And you, like Moses and Jesus, is your own relationship with God of a filial
nature? Do you see God as your Father and consider him as such? Do you
turn to him often, as a child would with his own father or mother? A man
is capable of many magnificent feats, but a son of God is capable of much,
much more. These 90 days offers an excellent opportunity to order your
life to God. Surrender your rebellious heart. Live new, with a remarkable
Father who will not only sustain you, but he will make you the most
incredible version of yourself.

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 DAY ELEVEN

HUMILITY

Exodus 5 1-4: “After this, Moses and Aaron obtained audience with
Pharao, and said to him, We have a message to thee from the
Lord God of Israel, Give my people leave to go and offer me
sacrifice in the desert. Why, he answered, who is this Lord, that
I must obey his command, and let Israel go free? I know no such
Lord as that; I will not let Israel go. It is the God of the Hebrews,
they told him, who has summoned us to go out into the desert,
a matter of three days’ journey, and offer sacrifice to him; he,
the Lord, is our God, what if he should bring sickness or war
upon us? Nay, said the king of Egypt, it is two men, Moses and
Aaron, enticing the people away from their work; go back to
your duties’”

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 day 11 meditation

P haraoh arrogantly disregards the commands of the Most High

God. He has his reasons of course. This man is ruler over a mighty
kingdom. He commands armies and slaves. He comes from a powerful
line of revered men. Pharaoh is powerful. Yet, in all of his grandeur he
is brought lower than flies and frogs because he would not bend a knee
to his Creator. St. John Chrysostom reminds us of a countering figure
here – Abraham. Abraham, in humility says, “I am dust and ashes”
and he (with his offspring) prevailed over numerous foes including the
Egyptians.

You are a son of God and created in his image and likeness. With all
your strengths and reasons to “puff up”, pride is a constant temptation.
As our pride swells, our deference to our own impulses begins to
prevail. Our ruin follows soon after – brought to our knees by things
well beneath our dignity (addictions, distractions, boredom and the
whole lot). Pride strips us of these things and renders us powerless.
Keep your eyes heavenward and, in humility, remember that it is God
who demands your freedom and he who delivers.

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 DAY TWELVE

THE FRUSTRATION OF SIN

Exodus 5: 15-21 “So the Israelite foremen went and complained

to Pharao; Master, they cried, why dost thou treat us so? The
straw is not being found for us any longer, and never a brick
less demanded of us. Here are we, thy servants, beaten for it;
there is no justice for this people of thine. You are idlers, said he,
idlers all, or you would not be asking leave to go and sacrifice to
this Lord of yours. Off with you to your work; no straw shall you
have; and as for the bricks, you must make up the same tale as
before. When they heard that the same tale of bricks was to be
demanded each day, the Israelite foremen saw that it would go
hard with them; and meeting Moses and Aaron face to face, as
they came away from Pharao’s audience, they said to them, The
Lord take note of it, and be your judge; you have made our name
stink in the nostrils of Pharao and his court, put a weapon in his
hand that will be our doom.”

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 day 12 meditation

T he verses we read today give us a greater understanding of the

unquenchable desire that our addictions/habits create in us. It
also shows us how unfulfilling it is for us when we give in to these
temptations. Whatever it may be that we are struggling with, or
enslaved too, the temptation is always for a quick and easy fix to our
problems by giving in to the desire. Ironically, the more we give in to
these desires the less fulfilling they become. The temptations create
an illusion that tell us we will be more fulfilled if we just indulge a
little more the next time; hence, driving us further into slavery and
farther away from freedom. This makes it harder for us to overcome the
addiction and brings deeper relevance to what St Paul says in Romans
chapter seven, “For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing
I hate.” The Israelites complain that they are expected to produce the
same amount of bricks even though they receive less straw. In the
context of slavery, they complain that the demands of the slave master
(in their case Pharaoh and in our case Satan) have become increasingly
unattainable. We must never forget the lie that our addictions
constantly speak to us. We must keep it in the forefront of our minds
as the driving force leading us to freedom! It is this frustration that has
led us here and it will be this frustration that leads us into the desert in
our desire for greater freedom.

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 DAY THIRTEEN

THE MIND OF GOD

Exodus 5:22-6:13 “So that Moses had recourse to the Lord again,
and asked him, Lord, why dost thou treat thy people so cruelly?
Why didst thou ever send me on such an errand? I gained
audience with Pharao, and spoke to him in thy name; and
since then he does nothing but ill-use thy people; is this the
deliverance thou hast sent them?

But the Lord said to Moses, Thou hast yet to see what I have
in store for Pharao, such constraint as will make him let them
go; he shall have no choice but to drive them away out of his
country. And now the Lord sent his word to Moses: I am the
same Lord who revealed myself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob;
but although I revealed myself as God the Almighty, my name
Adonai I did not make known to them. And the covenant I made

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 with them was that I would give them the land of Chanaan,
their dwelling-place then, but not their home. And now the
complaints of the Israelites under their Egyptian oppressors
have reached my ears, and I am reminded of this covenant. Tell
the sons of Israel, I am the Lord, and I mean to release you from
your prison-house in Egypt, to set you free from your slavery,
to buy you back for myself, with my arm uplifted in signal acts
of redress. Then I will make you my own people, and will be
your God; you will learn to acclaim the Lord as your God, that
Lord who has brought you out of your Egyptian prison-house,
that Lord who made good his promise to Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, led you back to your dwelling-place, and made it your
home. All this Moses repeated to the Israelites, but they, in their
bitterness of heart and the misery of their bondage, would not
listen to him. And when the Lord sent Moses to bid Pharao, king
of Egypt, let the sons of Israel go, Moses told the Lord to his
face, The Israelites will not listen to me; what hope is there that
Pharao will listen to me? A man, moreover, so tongue-tied.”

day 13 meditation

H ow often the “God of the Old Testament” is accused of harshness

and cruelty. Perhaps a superficial consideration of today’s
Scripture might fit the stereotype. Nonetheless, look again. If God were
to rush in and “fix” the problems faced by the Israelites, what would
be accomplished? The Hebrew people would give a sigh of relief and
would quickly forget the predicament in which they find themselves
– and who it was that assured their freedom. They would not have
learned that the God of their fathers is their God. Nothing would be
learned, nothing gained. By allowing the Hebrews to persist in their
difficult situation, they will come to learn a very valuable lesson: that
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 “God will take them for his people and he will be their God.” He
will lead them to freedom and assure the end of their captivity. They
will know without doubt that God is God and, frankly, they can do
nothing without him.

It is unwise to attempt to decipher the mind of God, but in this case,

we can see the lesson being taught. Perhaps man struggles today for
the same reason. Most men struggle with lust. It is lust which sticks in
our side as if as a thorn (2 Corinthians 12:7). St. Paul struggled (we do
not know with what) “to keep me from becoming proud.” Men are,
by nature, very powerful. Think, for a moment, what man would be
like absent the struggle with lust. He would be a proud and haughty
beast with no need for a God; he would come to believe he can deliver
himself, in this world and in the next. In this way, lust can teach us that
– if we want to be free – we must learn to wait patiently for the Lord
God to act in our lives. He is our God. We are his sons.

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 DAY FOURTEEN

THE INFLUENCE OF OUR FATHER

Exodus 6:13-27 "When the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, giving
them a message to the Israelites and to the Egyptian king, Pharao,
and bidding them lead the sons of Israel away out of Egypt, these
were the heads of families that had left their names to clans.
From Ruben, Israel’s first-born, came Henoch, Phallu, Hesron and
Charmi. From Simeon came Jamuel, Jamin, Ahod, Jachin, Soar,
and Saul (the son of a Chanaanite woman). From Levi came the
three clans of Gerson, Caath, and Merari. (Levi lived to the age
of a hundred and thirty-seven.) From Gerson, the two families of
Lobni and Semei. From Caath, Amram, Isaar, Hebron and Oziel.
(Caath lived to the age of a hundred and thirty-three.) From
Merari, Moholi and Musi. Such were the families descended from
Levi. Amram married a kinswoman of his called Jochabed, who
bore him two sons, Aaron and Moses. (Amram lived to the age of
a hundred and thirty-seven.) From Isaar came Core, Nepheg, and

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 Zechri, from Oziel, Misael, Elisaphan and Sethri. Aaron’s wife was
Elisabeth, daughter to Aminadab and sister to Nahasson, and the
sons she bore him were called Nadab, Abiu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
And Core’s sons were called Aser, Elcana and Abiasaph; those
were the divisions of the Corite clan. Meanwhile Aaron’s son
Eleazar married one of the daughters of Phutiel, and become the
father of Phineës. Such were the heads of the Levite families that
gave their names to clans. It was these two, Aaron and Moses,
who had orders from the Lord to lead the Israelites away, in their
full muster, out of Egypt; and it was these two, Moses and Aaron,
who bade Pharao, king of Egypt, let them leave his country, at the
time we are speaking of.”

Day 14 meditation

L engthy biblical genealogies tend to lose our interest. The names

are foreign and the significance of the family lines are lost to us.
Nonetheless, everything included in Sacred Scripture reveals important
truths to the Church and to the believer. Genealogies connect
succeeding generations to promises and covenants made by God and
his people. Genealogies reminded the ancient peoples of their dignity
as well as their destiny.

Thus, like the ancient Hebrews, our own family lines can teach us
much about ourselves as well. Much of our strength of character, our
temperament and personality, our very person, is given to us by our
ancestors. More immediately, in spite of the current culture disregard,
it remains in our nature to gain much about life from our fathers.
Fathers, perhaps more than we may know, truly have a significant
impact upon their progeny – sometimes positive, sometimes negative.

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 Self-mastery, self-confidence, chastity, the manner in which we
interact with the external world, are all taught to us largely by our
fathers. Is that to say, if we struggle in these areas, our father failed
us? That is a looming question for every man, something that he
must certainly work through. Try this exercise: if possible, ask your
father to describe his own father (your grandfather), and you will
see where your own father’s traits (positive and negative) most likely
came from… and you might also have an idea of what you are
passing to your own son. Try to keep the exercise positive, do not
look to blame, only to understand.

This is not the place for an exhaustive treatise on fatherhood. But, as

we work to better understand ourselves and strive for the freedom of
self-mastery, consideration given to your father and your relationship
with him might prove very beneficial. Just as we pass our genetic
code, we also pass our characteristics, habits, and way of life.

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 DAY FIFTEEN

GOD WILLS MAN’S GREATNESS

Exodus 6:28 -7:7 “It was to Moses the Lord said, there in Egypt, I
am the Lord, repeat to Pharao king of Egypt all this message of
mine, but Moses hung back and asked the Lord to his face, How
should Pharao listen to me, tongue-tied as I am?

And the Lord said to Moses, It is my will that thou shouldst

be a divine oracle to Pharao, with thy brother for spokesman;
Aaron will receive my commands from thee, and repeat them
to him, bidding him let the Israelites depart from his country;
but I, meanwhile, will harden Pharao’s heart. Many signs, many
portents will I give in this land of Egypt, and still he will not
listen. Then Egypt shall feel the weight of my hand, and I will
deliver the Israelites, my army, my people, out of Egypt, with
signal acts of redress. All Egypt shall know that it was I, the
Lord, who raised my hand against it, and brought out the sons

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 of Israel from its midst. This command of the Lord was faithfully
carried out by Moses and Aaron; they did all he bade them do.
Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three, when they
gave Pharao their message.”

day 15 meditation

H ere, Moses behaves as many would in the face of a daunting task.

Placing things in perspective, God asks Moses to confront the
most powerful ruler in the world, in the very heart of his kingdom,
surrounded by his loyal subjects and tell him what to do. Moses
shrinks. He explains to God that he has “uncircumcised lips”, that is to
say “I have a weak voice”. God hears none of this. God – the Supreme
Ruler of all creation – tells the weak voiced Moses: I make you as
God to Pharaoh. St. Ambrose tells us that Moses’s virtue far exceeded
Pharaoh’s. Moses was not given to excess. His passions did not lord over
him. He was a man who, Ambrose says, “[castigated] his flesh with an
authority that was almost regal”. While Moses’ confidence faltered, the
Lord has every confidence in his son.

So it is with you. As you, like Moses, command your passions and suffer
the pains of penance you are hardly a pitiable sight. Borrowing from St.
Ambrose, you carry the presence of a son of God – regal and powerful in
the face of the ridiculous “Pharaoh” of worldliness and vice.

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 WEEK THREE:
ACTION LIST

1) You and your brothers have made it to week three.

The possibility that you will complete the 90 days increases daily.
Take courage, encourage your brothers, lean on your true rock:
God himself.

2) More than likely, this is the first experience you may have had
with spiritual exercises as challenging and meaningful as Exodus.
The scales, very possibly, may be falling from your eyes. Start to
regard the world around you with the spiritual eyes which may
be opening for the first time. When a man emerges from a cellar
or basement into the light, his fist impulse is to squint and block
the brightness of the sun… waiting for his eyes to adjust. Your
spiritual awaking is the same. Be patient, take it slow, but “sense”
the things around you. You may be open to things today which
have been “unseeable” or “unknowable” to you before.

3) There are many challenging days ahead. Be sure to

regard the progress you are making. Also, the fraternity you
have established is invaluable; it will carry you through the
more difficult days. Be sure to take recreational time with your
brothers: a breakfast early Saturday morning, an overnight in a
cabin, a bonfire in your backyard, be creative and take the time
you need.

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 DAY SIXTEEN

SALVATION IS THROUGH THE CROSS

Exodus 7:8-13 “And now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, When
Pharao asks you to shew him signs of your mission, thou,
Moses, shalt bid thy brother take up his staff and cast it down
in Pharao’s presence; it will turn into a serpent. So Moses and
Aaron gained Pharao’s audience and did as the Lord had bidden
them; Aaron brought out his staff in the presence of Pharao
and his court, and it turned into a serpent. At this, Pharao
summoned his diviners and magicians, who, in their turn,
uttered secret spells in the Egyptian language and did the like;
each man’s staff, when he cast it down, turned into a serpent;
but the staff of Aaron devoured them. Meanwhile, Pharao’s
heart was hardened, so that he would not obey the Lord’s will
and heed their warning.”

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 Day 16 meditation

T here is no other way to salvation than through the cross. The

scene before us reiterates that fact. The Fathers of the Church
were quick to recognize that the rod carried by Aaron was a symbol of
the cross of Jesus Christ. For example, the rod will be used to split the
Red Sea allowing the Jews to pass into freedom, just as in Baptism, the
water through which we pass to freedom, receives its power from the
cross (the rod). In today’s readings, Pharaoh commands his magicians
to duplicate the sign performed by Aaron. It is an empty attempt to
confuse the people, to deflate the power of the sign (and the cross),
to offer alternatives to the design of God. Do we not see this even
today? There is no other way to salvation than by the cross, but our
current culture is frantically searching for an alternative… something
easier, something more pleasant, something which we, ourselves, might
control. How many times do we search for alternatives until we finally
understand that there is no other way? “As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness (on a rod or staff), so must the Son of Man be lifted
up” (John 3:14).

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 DAY SEVENTEEN

THE FLESH AND THE SPIRIT

Exodus 7:14-24 "Then the Lord said to Moses, Pharao’s heart is still
obdurate, he does not mean to let my people go. Betake thyself
to him to-morrow morning; thou wilt find that he is walking by
the water side, and there on the bank of the river, thou shalt
meet him. Thou wilt be carrying the staff which turned into a
serpent, and this shall be thy message to him: The Lord God of
the Hebrews sent me to bid thee let his people go and offer him
sacrifices in the desert, and hitherto thou hast refused to listen.
And now the Lord has a new message for thee, to convince thee
that he is indeed the Lord. When I strike the water of the river
with this staff I carry, it will turn into blood; the fishes in the river
will die, till its waters are full of corruption; it will go hard with the
Egyptians if they are for drinking river water. Then the Lord gave
Moses a message for Aaron, Take up thy staff, and stretch thy

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 hand out over the waters of Egypt; all their rivers and channels
and marshes and pools of water. All must turn into blood; blood
in every bucket and pitcher, all over Egypt. So Moses and Aaron
did as the Lord had bidden them; Aaron lifted up his staff and
struck the waters of the river in the presence of Pharao and his
court, and the river turned to blood. All the fishes in the river
died, and its waters stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink
river water any longer, and there was blood all over the land of
Egypt. But the Egyptian magicians did as much with spells of
their own; and Pharao’s heart was still hardened, still he would
not obey the Lord’s will and heed their warning. He turned away
and went home, paying no more attention to them than before.
Meanwhile, all the Egyptians had to dig wells round about the
banks, since they could not drink any water from the river itself.”

day 17 meditation

G od reveals all things for what they truly are. In this passage,
God begins the series of ten plagues in order to show his power
over Pharaoh and the false gods of Egypt. His power is remarkable:
every individual body of water in Egypt is turned into blood, making
the Nile so putrid the people had no water to drink. Blood here is a
symbol of flesh, the material of human nature that is of this world.
Water, the source of life for people in the desert, is turned into a source
of death and decay. In the Hebrew, the text implies that the pots and
vessels used for water (and now filled with blood) were made from
material acquired from trees and stones that, interestingly, were the
very materials the Egyptians used to build their idols (Robert Alter, The
Five Books of Moses, 348). In other words, the false Egyptian gods have
now become a source of death for them; they cannot save. Fast forward
to the Gospel of John. Jesus turns water into wine, a symbol of life and
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 joy, a sign of the new life of the Spirit. Today we are constantly tempted
to turn to the things of the flesh—sex, power, money—that cut us off
from true life and freedom. Christ offers us something else: new life in
the Spirit. Be steadfast brothers, and know that you are choosing the
better path.

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 DAY EIGHTEEN

HUMILITY

Exodus 7:25-8:15 "So passed the first week after the Lord smote the
river.

Then the Lord bade Moses present himself before Pharao with
this message from him, Give my people leave to go and offer me
sacrifice; if thou dost refuse, I mean to plague thy whole country
with frogs. The river shall swarm with frogs, which will come
up out of it and find their way into thy palace, into thy bed-
chamber, into thy bed itself; and so with all thy servants and
all thy people, with thy ovens and thy larders; neither thou nor
thy servants nor thy people will be able to keep the frogs out.
Then the Lord would have Moses tell Aaron to stretch out his
hand over river and channel and marsh, and bring up frogs all
over Egypt; so Aaron stretched out his hand over all the waters

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 of Egypt, and the frogs came up till the whole land of Egypt
was full of them. But the magicians, too, did as much with their
spells; to fill Egypt with frogs was not beyond their powers. So
Pharao summoned Moses and Aaron, and bade them entreat
the Lord to rid him and his people of the frogs, promising that
he would let the Israelites go and offer God sacrifice. Appoint a
time, then, Moses said to him at which I shall pray for thee and
thy servants and thy people, asking that the frogs may be driven
away from thee and them, and no longer be found anywhere
but in the river. To-morrow, said he, and Moses answered, I will
do what thou hast said, to let thee know that there is no other
God like this Lord of ours; thou and thy palace and thy servants
and thy people shall be rid of the frogs, and they will remain
in the river, nowhere else. So Moses and Aaron went out from
Pharao’s presence, and Moses asked the Lord to grant what he
had promised Pharao about the frogs. His prayer was answered;
in house and farm and countryside all the frogs died, and must
be collected in great heaps; the whole land stank with them.

As soon as Pharao found that a respite was granted him, he

steeled his heart against the Lord’s will, and would not heed
their warning.”

day 18 meditation

U nless you are an eight year old boy, the prospect of countless
croaking frogs overwhelming the land is inconvenient at best and
disruptive at worst. We learn more about Pharaoh in this scene. When
Moses approaches him with the prospect of relief from the amphibians,
Pharaoh agrees that Moses should intervene with God…but callously
asks, not now, but, “Tomorrow.” He exhibits no regard for the hardship
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 he has placed upon his own people. His arrogant indifference to the
plight of his subjects reveals his hardness of heart and his narcissism.
He refuses to kneel before the God of the Hebrews and be seen
cooperating, in any manner whatsoever, with him. Thus, when the
plague of frogs is lifted, he displays no gratitude and, in his puffed up
pride, has no regard for God either.

Men are powerful. Men blessed by God are powerful in a supernatural

way. The gravest mistake made by a man today is the disregard he
may exhibit for anyone but himself. They might, if even figuratively,
disregard the God of the universe or the smallest and helpless of
creatures (perhaps even his own sons and daughters). For a man to
reach his true potential and use his power in a God-given manner, he
must think of those around him. He must submit to God and raise
up those around him. In such a manner, he will be operating in a
supernatural way.

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 DAY NINETEEN

ENCOURAGEMENT FROM SAINT FRANCIS DE SALES

Exodus 8:16-19 "So the Lord would have Moses tell Aaron to hold
out his staff and strike the dust on the ground with it, to bring
gnats upon the whole land of Egypt. The command was obeyed;
and when Aaron stretched out his hand, with the staff in it, and
smote the dust on the ground, gnats settled on man and beast;
all over Egypt the dust on the ground turned to gnats. When
the magicians tried to do as much with their spells, they found
they could not, but still the gnats came and settled on man and
beast, till the magicians told Pharao, This is God’s handiwork;
but Pharao’s heart was hardened, and still he would not listen to
them, or obey the Lord’s will.”

day 19 meditation

T rying to live as a good Catholic man with today’s circumstances

can be very trying. We are tempted to believe that, had we not
been introduced to God and his Church, we would be much happier
as we would not be required to endure a life of crosses. We all have

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 gnats our lives: we are trying to live the life God has called us to, and
he allows gnats – little annoyances that can create major problems – to
interfere with our work. Today, we offer you the encouraging words of a
remarkable saint and bishop as a source of strength and reassurance:

“So go forth very bravely with perfect trust in the goodness of him who
calls you to this holy task. When has anyone ever hoped in the Lord and
been disappointed? Mistrust of your own powers is good as long as it is
the groundwork of confidence in God's power; but if you are ever in any
way discouraged, anxious, sad, or melancholy I entreat you to cast this
away as the temptation of temptations; and never allow your spirit to
argue or reply in any way to any anxiety or downheartedness to which
you may feel inclined.

“Remember this simple truth which is beyond all doubt: God allows
many difficulties to beset those who want to serve him but he never lets
them sink beneath the burden as long as they trust in him. This, in a few
words, is a complete summary of what you most need: never under any
pretext whatsoever yield to the temptation of discouragement, not even
on the plausible pretext of humility.

“Humility . . . may refuse task but it does not persist stubbornly in its
refusal; and being employed by those in power, it does not enter into
any further argument about its worthiness, but believes all things, hopes
all things, endures all things, as does charity; it is always simple. Holy
humility is the great partner of obedience, and in the same way as it
never presumes to think itself capable of anything whatever, it always
believes obedience capable of everything; and as true simplicity humbly
refuses office, so true humility simply does what it is told.”

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 DAY TWENTY

GOD IS GOD, THERE IS NO OTHER

Exodus 8:20-32 "So the Lord said to Moses, Rise up early, and
present thyself before Pharao; thou wilt find he has gone out
to the water side. Give him this message from the Lord, Let my
people go and offer me sacrifice; if thou dost not send them
on their way, I will send on thee, thy servants, thy people, and
the houses in thy land, flies of all sorts; flies of every kind shall
swarm in the houses of the Egyptians, and all over the land in
which they dwell. But I will shew signal favour to the land of
Gessen, where my own people dwell, sparing it from the flies;
am I not Lord in every part of the earth? My people shall not
fare as thine; to-morrow shall see this portent happen. And the
Lord carried out his threat; into the houses of Pharao and his
servants and upon all the land of Egypt came a grievous swarm
of flies, such a swarm as tainted the whole land by its presence.
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 sacrifice to your God, he said, but here, in this land. That may
not be, said Moses; do we not sacrifice to the Lord what the
Egyptians worship? If we are seen slaughtering the very beasts
which the Egyptians hold sacred, they will stone us. We will do
what the Lord bade us do, go out three days’ march into the
desert and offer him sacrifice there. Then Pharao said, You shall
go and sacrifice to the Lord your God in the desert, provided it
is no long distance away; now go and use your prayers on my
behalf. When I leave thy presence, said Moses, I will pray to the
Lord, and to-morrow Pharao and his servants and his people
shall be rid of the flies; only do not play us false again by holding
the people back from their sacrifice. So Moses left Pharao’s
presence, and prayed to the Lord, and what he had promised,
the Lord granted, ridding Pharao and his servants and his people
of the flies, until not one was left. But the heart of Pharao was
still obdurate, and once more he would not let the people go.”

day 20 meditation

W e come to the real meaning and purpose of the entire saga

recorded in the Book of Exodus. God makes a demand of
Pharaoh: “Let my people go, that they may serve me.” We see that
Moses intends, at the command of God, to take the people a three
days journey into the wilderness where they might “sacrifice offerings
abominable to the Egyptians…” We can infer that the real purpose of
Moses is to take the animals which the Egyptians worshipped into the
wilderness that he might slaughter them in holocaust. This would prove
to the Hebrew people that the gods their masters worshipped were but
created creatures and not the God of the universe. Is it any wonder,
then, that the Egyptians would consider this act an abomination?
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 It is any wonder that Moses feared reprisals from the Egyptians? In
addition, even as Pharaoh begins to tire of this contest and grants
permission for Moses to go into the wilderness, he is not to go “very far
away.” In other words, he will not allow his labor force to slip from his
hands. They must remain enslaved.

Perhaps modern man is too sophisticated to worship sheep and

cattle. Nonetheless, in his arrogance and sophistication, he –after
the passing of many millennia- still worships inanimate (money,
power, reputation) and animate (sexual desire, the self ) gods. Just like
Pharaoh, man struggles to be Lord of himself rather than submit to
the God of his Fathers. With our modern sensibilities, we may see
God’s treatment of Pharaoh as harsh and “not very nice.” But unless
Pharaoh come to terms with his human limitations and reorders his
life and the life of his kingdom to God, he stands to lose everything.
His stubbornness will be his undoing. Although it may seem that
God is vengeful and petty, he created man for himself and man will
reach his true greatness only by the hand of God. Modern man must
learn this valuable lesson. The further from God he strays, the further
from his real self, his greatness, and his true destiny he finds himself.
God will allow these choices to be made, if nothing else than to allow
his experience to reveal this truth to himself.

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 DAY TWENTY-ONE

YOU HAVE BEEN SET APART BY GOD

Exodus 9:1-7 "Then the Lord bade Moses present himself before
Pharao with this message from the Lord, the God of the Hebrews;
Give my people leave to go and offer me sacrifice. If thou dost still
refuse, wouldst still keep them in thy power, then my hand shall
be felt all through this countryside; a most grievous plague shall
fall upon horse and ass and camel, on oxen and sheep. And I will
make a signal difference between the lands of Israel and the lands
of the Egyptians; the Israelites will not lose any of their possessions
at all. And the Lord has appointed his own time for it; To-morrow,
he says, the Lord will carry out this threat against thy land. So, next
day, the Lord did as he had threatened; everywhere the beasts
belonging to the Egyptians died, and the Israelites did not lose
one. Pharao himself sent to make enquiry, and found that no beast
belonging to the Israelites had died. But still Pharao’s heart was
obdurate, and he would not let the people go.”

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 day 21 meditation

T he message sent to Pharaoh is abundantly clear: God intends to

separate the Hebrew people from the Egyptian Kingdom. The
Hebrews do not belong to Pharaoh, but to God alone. To drive this
point home, God emphatically warns Pharaoh that even the cattle and
other livestock will be separated “so that nothing shall die of all that
belongs to the people of Israel.”

This would be a good day to recall the Sacrament of Baptism. In that

sacred rite, you were chosen by God as a man for himself. Just as
the Hebrew people were set apart, so you were set apart at your own
Baptism. So frequently we forget the power and effects of Baptism.
When you emerged from the font, either as an infant or as an adult,
you were made a son of the Heavenly Father… made to participate in
his divine life, you were made sacred to the Lord. With that in mind,
an examination of your life is required. For example, when a priest
uses a chalice in the Sacred Liturgy, that chalice can never be used for
profane activity again. It is sacred and must be treated as such. Likewise,
following Baptism, you too, were set apart; you remain a part of the
culture, but you serve the Lord alone. Your destiny is to be with him.
Thus, we must resist the temptation to give ourselves wholeheartedly to
earthly pursuits, especially when it excludes the plan of God for your life.
The more we come to terms with our true destiny, the more irrational
pursuits such as sex, power, and money become. They actually become
foreign to us. Stir up in your heart the grace of your Baptism frequently;
lay claim to your birthright and your inheritance!

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 DAY TWENTY-TWO

THE BLESSING AND CURSE OF FREEDOM

Exodus 9:8-12: "So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Take handfuls
of ashes from the oven, and let Moses sprinkle them in the air in
Pharao’s presence. They will turn to a dust that falls everywhere
in the land of Egypt, and everywhere ulcers and boils shall
break out on man and beast. So they took ashes from the oven
into Pharao’s presence, and Moses sprinkled them in the air;
and ulcers and boils broke out on man and beast, so that even
the magicians could not present themselves before Pharao,
such pain they had, like all Egypt, from the ulcers. But the Lord
hardened Pharao’s heart so that he would not listen to them; all
fell out as the Lord had prophesied to Moses.”

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 Day 22 meditation

T he plagues become more intense in today’s Scripture passage from

Exodus. First, the plague of boils afflicts the person, rather than
town, country and kingdom. Second, the magicians finally depart,
having acquiesced to the power of the Most High. Third, we see for the
first time that Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, not voluntarily, it seems, but
by the will of God: “But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh,
and he did not listen to them…” Much has been made of the conflict
between Pharaoh and the Lord. Our modern ears cringe when we
hear that God is “playing” with Pharaoh and making him obstinate
and, seemingly, leading him to make poor choices. We will not solve
this mystery here, but taking a deeper look might shed light on the
significance of this passage. Up until now, it was Pharaoh, himself, who
hardened his own heart toward Moses and his God. Now, God is seen
as taking up the effort to divide Pharaoh from himself.

What can this mean? In practical terms, perhaps it means that God
shows us the way, but many times we stand against him. We can
see this in our own lives when we persist in a certain sin without
regard for the will or wisdom of God. We seem to get to that point
when God ceases to oppose us and allows us to persist in our own
stubbornness… and then God allows the consequences of our actions
reprimand and correct us. For example, a man who might “take” office
supplies or items from the workplace. At first, he might be “plagued”
by his conscience, but eventually his conscience goes numb and is
quiet. He is allowed to persist in his sin… until the day, inevitably,
that he is discovered. Hence, his punishment is to endure the loss of
employment, the loss of self-respect, and the loss of reputation, not to
mention having to face wife, sons and daughters.

One may think that a quick visit to a porn site is harmless and
insignificant. Nonetheless, one visit leads to another visit and then
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 another, etc. Soon, a bad decision becomes a bad habit and a bad habit
becomes an addiction. God allows us to traverse that dangerous path
(hardens our heart), even if it is against his will, to show us what life
without his friendship, the loss of his grace can cost us personally. The
conscience is the “inner sanctum” where we are alone with God; those
who refuse to hear him are in peril. Strive to hear his voice always,
strive with all your might.

God’s love can be thought of as the rays of the sun. Man’s material may
be that of either wax or clay. The sun shines on both the wax and the
clay, but it is the disposition of the matter that determines whether it
is melted or hardened. So it is with man: one heart is melted by God’s
love, while another is hardened.

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 WEEK FOUR:
ACTION LIST

1) Your fraternity is becoming more important. The

disciplines of Exodus will be weighing more and more
heavily. Remind yourself often that you are not alone. Your
brothers struggle with you shoulder to shoulder. Rely upon
them even as you support them with encouragement and
your own witness to perseverance.

2) Prayer, too, is increasingly important. You cannot do

this alone. You are engaged in dour combat. Satan and his
Legions are ever present, ready to trick you. He will try to
convince you that you have been fooled, that the investment
you have made is empty and worthless. Resist him. See the
good work that you are doing! Call upon God and his angels
in this time.

3) Absent so many of the things that once brought you

pleasure and repose, seek what is real and lasting. As you
receive Holy Communion in these days, you will benefit
more than ever before. You emptied yourself and now have a
greater capacity for God and his love. Open yourself to him;
receive what he has been trying to give you for most of your
Christian life.

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 DAY TWENTY-THREE

CONVERSION

Exodus 9:13-35: “And now the Lord bade Moses rise up early in the
morning, and present himself before Pharao with this message
from the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: Let my people go and
offer me sacrifice. I am taking occasion now to send all my
plagues upon thy person, and thy servants, and thy people,
to shew thee that none on earth has power like mine. Were
I to stretch out my hand and smite thee and thy people with
pestilence, earth would see no more of thee. But no, this is the
very reason why I have made thee what thou art, so as to give
proof, in thee, of my power, and to let my name be known all
over the earth. So thou wouldst still play the tyrant with my
people, and refuse them leave to go away? To-morrow, then, at
this hour, I will pour down such a fierce storm of hail as Egypt
has never known, from the first day of her existence to this.

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 Lose no time in sending word to have thy cattle brought in, and
all that thou hast out of doors; men and cattle and all else that is
left in the open, not brought under shelter, will die when the hail
falls upon it. Some of Pharao’s servants were struck with awe
at the Lord’s threat, and made their servants and their cattle
take refuge within doors others paid no heed to the message
the Lord had sent, and left their servants and their cattle in
the open. Then the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out thy hand
towards heaven, so that hail may fall all over the land of Egypt,
on man and beast and every growing thing the soil of Egypt
produces. So Moses lifted up his staff towards heaven, and the
Lord sent thunder and hail and fire that ran along the ground;
all over the land of Egypt the Lord showered down hail. The hail
drove on, and fire mingled with the hail; never was such hail
seen anywhere in Egypt since its people became a people. And
throughout the land this hail smote all that was left in the open,
man or beast; smote upon all the soil yielded, and broke down
every wild tree. Only in the land of Gessen, where the Israelites
dwelt, no hail fell. So Pharao had Moses and Aaron summoned
to his presence; Thus far, he said, I have done wrong; the Lord
has justice on his side, the guilt lies with me and my people.
Pray to the Lord that these heavenly thunders, this hail, may
cease; then I will let you go, and not keep you waiting here any
longer. And Moses answered, When I leave the city I will spread
out my hands in prayer to the Lord; the thunders will cease,
and there will be no more hail, to prove to thee that the Lord
rules the earth. But thou and thy people, I know it well, have
not learned to fear the Lord God even now. (The flax and the
barley had been spoiled; the barley was ripening, and the flax

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 already in the pod. But no harm was done to the late crops, the
wheat and the spelt.) When Moses left Pharao and the city, he
stretched out his hands to the Lord; whereupon the thunder
and the hail ceased, and no more rain fell on the land. And
Pharao, seeing that rain and hail and thunder were past, added
sin to sin; his heart and those of his servants were dull and
hardened beyond belief, and he would not let the Israelites go;
the Lord’s warning through Moses went unheeded.”

Day 23 meditation

H ere, those subjected to the Almighty’s wrath endure a seventh

plague: fiery hail cascading from the sky ending the lives of every
breathing creature in its path.

…Too harsh? Augustine says “no”. He reminds us that, while God

handles humanity at times with tenderness, at other times it is
necessary to handle us with severity. All the same, it is for our good and
to our sanctification.

A common caricature of the Church today is that she is a draconian

institution whose primary contributions to humanity are crippling guilt
and shame. Modern television programs paint a rather dark image of
our great faith – grim, dank Churches, dreary music, and tall wooden
boxes in which to receive condemning lectures from a cold unfeeling
celibate with a palpable scorn for humanity. I often wonder…"where
do people come up with this stuff?"

I suspect it is the Church’s willingness to call all people to conversion.

Conversion can feel violent. When in a state of depression, anger,
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 anxiety, loneliness or exhaustion, depriving ourselves of our creature
comforts can feel like an interior fiery hailstorm. It can seem harsh. But
these little deaths to self, end the life of those vices and impulses which
are our blockades to freedom. Stay close to the Lord in your ongoing
conversion, let your body and soul be purified by fire – it will preserve
your life.

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 DAY TWENTY-FOUR

ATTACHMENT AND FALSE CONVERSION

Exodus 10:1-20: “So the Lord said to Moses, Gain admission, now,
to Pharao’s presence; I have hardened both his own heart and
the hearts of his servants, so that he shall be a signal proof of my
power. It is a story thou shalt repeat in the hearing of thy children
and thy children’s children, how I crushed the Egyptians, what
portents I did amongst them, and you shall know, all of you, what
manner of God you serve. So Moses and Aaron gained Pharao’s
audience, and brought him this message from the Lord, the God
of the Hebrews, Wilt thou never learn to bow to my will? Give
my people leave to go and offer me sacrifice. If thou dost refuse
to let them go, then to-morrow I am sending the locust to invade
thy territory, covering the face of the ground till it is lost to sight,
devouring all that the hail has left, eating away all the trees that
grow in the countryside. Locusts shall lie thick in all the houses

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 that belong to thee, and thy servants, and all the Egyptians;
such a swarm as father or grandfather of thine has never seen
in all their time. With that, Moses turned away, and left Pharao’s
presence. And now Pharao’s servants said to him, Shall we never
be rid of this thorn in our sides? Let the men go, and sacrifice to
the Lord their God if they will. Canst thou not see for thyself that
Egypt is a ruined country? So they brought Moses and Aaron
back into the presence of Pharao, who said to them, Go and
sacrifice to the Lord your God if you will. How many will you take
with you? We must take our children with us, answered Moses,
and the old as well; our sons and daughters, our flocks and our
herds; it is a solemn festival of the Lord our God. As you hope for
the Lord’s mercy, cried Pharao, you shall not go thus, taking your
children with you. Who can doubt there is mischief brewing here?
That will not serve; you that are grown men shall go and sacrifice
to the Lord; that is all you asked for. And with that they were
driven away from Pharao’s presence. Then the Lord bade Moses
stretch out his hand over Egypt, to make the locusts swarm over
it and devour all the growing things that had outlived the hail.
So Moses stretched out his staff over Egypt; and the Lord made
a sirocco blow all that day and that night. When morning came,
the sirocco carried locusts with it; and these invaded all the land
of Egypt, settling upon its whole extent in such numbers as had
never been seen before, nor shall be hereafter. They covered
the whole face of the ground, laying everything waste; devoured
all the growing things which the soil produced, and all the fruit
which the hail had left on the trees; no green was to be found
on tree or plant all over Egypt. Upon this, Pharao sent for Moses
and Aaron with all haste; I have wronged you, he said, you and

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 this Lord of yours; but forgive me this once, and pray the Lord
your God to rid me of this deadly plague. So Moses went out
from Pharao’s presence, and prayed to the Lord; who thereupon
sent a violent west wind, that caught up the locusts and swept
them away into the Red Sea; not one was left in the whole land
of Egypt. But still the Lord hardened Pharao’s heart, and he would
not let the Israelites go.”

day 24 meditation

I t is often asked, “Why would God allow such and such to happen
to my friend/relative?” To answer, first consider that man’s destiny,
the very reason he exists, is to be in and with God. Apart from God,
he is nothing. Yet, very often, man rebels against God and his offer of a
shared life with him. Why do bad things happen to good people? This
is easily answered, “To make them better. To encourage them to return
more deeply to God.” In today’s reading, Pharaoh is nothing short of
manipulative. He acquiesces, “I have sinned against the LORD your
God, and against you. Now therefore, forgive my sin, I pray you, only
this once, and entreat the LORD your God only to remove this death
from me.” But it is unlikely that he truly meant what he was saying. He
has nearly lost everything. His entreaty to the Lord was nothing short
of trying, desperately, to cling to what he has, to maintain his position,
to ensure he will not lose his kingdom. It is unlikely that he is truly
repenting and seeking to cooperate with the wisdom of God. If there
is any doubt, the passage ends with Pharaoh, once again, refusing to
release the Hebrew people from his grasp.

Men struggle mightily to maintain control. Masturbation, for example,

is many times a childish response to stress, conflict, confusion, failure,
and desolation. A man in this situation, turns to something (anything)
that will give him a sense of control, even if it is a lie, even if he knows
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 it is a lie.

Some will preach, “Turn everything over to God and everything will be
good and well.” Perhaps not… not in the short term anyway. Jesus said,
“If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his
cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and
whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a
man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life?” (Matthew 16:24-
26). Our time in this world is to prepare us for the next. Do not look
for paradise in this world, it was not promised. Look with confidence,
rather, toward the fulfillment of the glorious promises that Christ offers
to us!

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 DAY TWENTY-FIVE

THE PRESENCE OF GOD

Exodus 10:21-29: “So the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out thy hand
towards heaven, to bring darkness over the land of Egypt,
darkness so thick that it can be felt. And when Moses stretched
out his hand towards heaven, all over the land of Egypt
utter darkness fell; for three days no one caught sight of his
neighbour’s face, or moved from where he was. But wherever
sons of Israel dwelt, the light shone. Then Pharao had Moses and
Aaron summoned; Go and sacrifice to the Lord, he said, and take
your children with you, only leave your flocks and herds behind.
But Moses said, Nay, thou must let us take victims with us, if we
are to offer the Lord our God burnt-sacrifice. All our flocks must
go with us, not a hoof but shall take the road; we shall need them
for the worship of the Lord our God. We cannot tell what kind
of offering we must make, until we reach the place itself. But

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 the Lord hardened Pharao’s heart, and he would not let them
go. Depart from me, Pharao said to Moses, and take good care
thou dost not come into my presence any more; if I see thee
again, that day shall be thy last. It shall be as thou sayest, Moses
answered; I will not come into thy presence any more.”

day 25 meditation

P erhaps, by now, we are wearied with the struggle between God and
Pharaoh. What is the “take away” from this long and unending
story? Perhaps the message is difficult for us to comprehend. Consider
that man is a created being and, as such, he is a being who does not
belong to himself. He has a rebellious heart even as he knows complete
submission to God and obedience to his command is the only way
to know his complete self. We often resist the wisdom of God in our
lives, even to the point of anger. Rebellion against God has been the
central part of the story of man from the beginning. Even in this scene,
scholars -who attempt to make excuses for God- are quick to explain
the three days of utter darkness as “a wicked sandstorm.” In other
words, a coincidence, and thus, a natural phenomenon that allows us
to “go about our business and keep to our own will.” Even more, the
argument that the God of the Old Testament is angry and vengeful
is still bantered around theological circles. Some would even cry,
“Genocide!” in response to what is to come and condemn God in self-
righteous indignation.

Yet, when we come to terms with the fact that we belong to God and
him alone… which requires a good dose of humility... then we are
able to see the providence of God more clearly. God cannot take from
us what does not belong to us; and we most certainly belong to God.
We are his alone and he will never stop fighting to keep us for himself.

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 Were we to reorder our understanding and humble standing before
God with this in mind, we would be less inclined to condemn him for
simply being God.

We often hear the accusation, perhaps we have made it ourselves, in

response to various tragedies, “How can God allow this or that thing to
happen?” Perhaps that is a question God will reserve to himself. Recall
Genesis; God did not make the choice of disobedience for us, mankind
did. We, mankind, chose sin and suffering and death. It is God
who should ask us, “How could you, mankind, have allowed this to
happen?” Now, we see better God’s generosity… in spite of our failure,
he comes to rescue us and he does not abandon us to our stubbornness
of heart.

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 DAY TWENTY-SIX

FREEDOM

Exodus 11:1-10: “The Lord had told Moses, I mean to send one more
plague on Pharao, and Egypt with him; after that he will let you
go, nay, he will drive you out with all eagerness. Give the word,
then, to all the people, men and women alike, that they are to
claim gold and silver trinkets from their neighbours; the Lord will
let you have your way with the Egyptians.

Sore adread of Moses the Egyptians were, both Pharao’s

servants and all the people. And now he said, The Lord sends
you this message: At midnight I will make my way through the
midst of Egypt, and with that every first-born thing in the land
of Egypt will die, whether it be the first-born of Pharao, where

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 he sits on his throne, or the first-born of the slave-woman
working at the mill; all the first-born, too, of your cattle. All over
the land of Egypt there shall be loud lament, such as never was
yet, never shall be again. But where the Israelites dwell, all shall
be still, man and beast, not a dog shall howl; you will know at
last how signal a difference the Lord makes between Egypt and
Israel. Then all these servants of thine shall come bowing down
to me in entreaty, praying to be rid of me, and of all the people
under my command; and when that happens, we will depart. So
he left Pharao’s presence, full of anger. It was a true word the
Lord had said to Moses, Pharao will refuse you a hearing, to give
occasion for those many signs I mean to do in Egypt. Moses and
Aaron had done all the miracles here recorded, all in Pharao’s
presence, and still the Lord hardened Pharao’s heart, and he
would not let the Israelites leave his country.”

day 26 meditation

T he Hebrew people prepare themselves. God has promised that this

will be the final plague. He has promised freedom… he did not say
freedom would come without a mighty struggle or without a requisite
trust in God. Imagine, after so many long years of slavery in Egypt, the
door begins to open; freedom is no longer a dream, but a reality.

And for ourselves; do we see the same opportunity for freedom? Men
will have engaged Exodus for countless number of reasons. But by now,
a man may be asking himself why he agreed to such a radical program!
By now, many have probably quit. But for you, you who have made it
this far, the door begins to open… if you can trust God more deeply, rely

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 on your brothers more completely, and persevere, persevere, persevere,
giving God time to work in your life… the door will not be able to be
shut ever again. Prepare yourself and persevere!

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 DAY TWENTY-SEVEN

SACRIFICE PRECEDES GLORY

Exodus 12:1-20: “It was while they were still in the land of Egypt
that the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, For you, this month is to
lead in all the months, to be the first month of the year. Make
this proclamation to the whole assembly of Israel: On the tenth
day of this month, each family, each household, is to choose
out a yearling for its own use. Or, if there are not enough of
them to eat a whole lamb, the head of the family must call in
some neighbour who lives close by, so that a lamb shall not
be too much for their needs. It must be a male yearling lamb,
or a male yearling kid, that you choose, with no blemish on it.

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 These victims must be kept ready till the fourteenth day of the
month, and on the evening of that day the whole people of
Israel must immolate. They must take some of the blood, and
sprinkle it on the doorway, jambs and lintel alike, of the house
in which the lamb is being eaten. Their meat that night must be
roasted over the fire, their bread unleavened; wild herbs must
be all their seasoning. No part must be eaten raw, or boiled, it
must be roasted over the fire; head, feet, and entrails, all must
be consumed, so that nothing remains till next day; whatever
is left over, you must put in the fire and burn it. And this is to
be the manner of your eating it; your loins must be girt, your
feet ready shod, and every man’s staff in his hand; all must be
done in haste. It is the night of the Pasch, the Lord’s passing
by; the night on which I will pass through the land of Egypt,
and smite every first-born thing in the land of Egypt, man and
beast alike; so I will give sentence on all the powers of Egypt,
I, the Lord. The blood on the houses that shelter you will be
your badge; at sight of the blood, I will pass you by, and there
shall be no scourge of calamity for you when I smite the land
of Egypt. You are to observe this day as a memorial of the past,
a day when you keep holiday in the Lord’s honour, generation
after generation; a rite never to be abrogated. For a whole
week you will eat unleavened bread; from the first day of it,
yeast is to disappear from your houses, and the man who eats
any leavened thing between the first day and the seventh, is
lost to Israel. That first day shall be solemnly set apart, and the
seventh observed with no less honour; on neither of them shall
you do any work, except to prepare your food. Mark well this
day of unleavened bread; for this is the day on which I will lead
®

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 your whole muster away out of Egypt, and you are to observe
it, generation after generation, a rite never to be abrogated.
From evening on the fourteenth day of the first month to
evening on the twenty-first day of it, the bread you eat must
be unleavened; no yeast to be found in any house for a whole
week. If anyone, stranger or native, eats leavened bread during
that time, there is one soul lost to Israel. There must be no food
cooked with yeast; there must be no house in which leavened
bread is eaten.”

day 27 meditation

W hile God exists in eternity, he created time. This sacred creature

“time” invites us into mystery one moment to another, each
commanding our attention. It is easy to hate time, constantly looking
to the “next best thing” which will surely secure the bliss we demand.
Impatience would have us hate the present in the promise of a better
tomorrow. But this is to hate life! That is unacceptable to the Christian.
Christians anticipate. Christians hope. These actions do not call us to
hate the present but to revel in it, even if our present consists of toil,
grief or pain.

St. Jerome comments on this scene as it relates to the precision of time

(Lienhard). While this passage at first glance seems tedious, nothing is
without Divine intention to invite us into the mystery of our own lives.
Jerome teaches us that, so long as we rest our head in Egypt (our own
slavery to addiction and sin), we reside in the night. But because of our
response to God’s call to freedom, we anticipate the dawn. Brothers,
this time of sacrifice is a precious time. It can be easy to look at these
90 days as a nuisance or a pointless test of will, eyes set on day 91

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 when all of this nonsense can stop and we can once again “enjoy” life.
No! This is a time to embrace the loss of unnecessary things and more
importantly embrace the most necessary of things! Rediscover your
God. Rediscover your prayer life. Rediscover your family. Rediscover
your friends. Rediscover what inspires you most deeply. The dawn is
approaching!

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 DAY TWENTY-EIGHT

THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB

Exodus 12:21-28: “Thereupon Moses called the elders of Israel

together, and gave them the command: Set about choosing
victims for each family to immolate at the paschal feast. Take
bunches of hyssop, too, and dip them in the blood which stands
at your doors, and sprinkle it over the doorway, lintel and jambs
alike. None of you must cross the threshold of his house till
morning comes. The Lord will pass on his way smiting down the
Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and the
jambs of a doorway he will pass by that house, and will not let
the destroying angel enter your homes to do them injury. And
this command is to be kept as an observance by you and your
sons for ever. When you reach the land which the Lord will
give you in accordance with his promise, you are to keep these
ceremonies alive; and if your children ask, What is the meaning

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 of this rite? then you shall tell them, This is the victim that
marked the Lord’s passing-by, when he passed by the houses of
the Israelites in Egypt, smiting only the Egyptians, and leaving
our homes exempt. Upon hearing this, the whole people bowed
down in worship, and the Israelites went away to carry out the
divine commands which Moses and Aaron had received.”

day 28 meditation

S aint John Chrysostom is a saint for a man. He is usually direct

and to the point and is often quite challenging. About the scene
in Exodus today, he writes about the mystical reality that most people
completely miss:

“If we wish to understand the power of Christ’s blood, we should go

back to the ancient account of its prefiguration in Egypt. ‘Sacrifice a
lamb without blemish,’ commanded Moses, ‘and sprinkle its blood on
your doors.’ If we were to ask him what he meant, and how the blood
of an irrational beast could possibly save men endowed with reason, his
answer would be that the saving power lies not in the blood itself, but
in the fact that it is a sign of the Lord’s blood. In those days, when the
destroying angel saw the blood on the doors he did not dare to enter,
so how much less will the devil approach now when he sees, not that
figurative blood on the doors, but the true blood on the lips of believers,
the doors of the temple of Christ.” [Of course, he is referring to Holy
Communion under both the species of Host or Precious Blood.]

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 DAY TWENTY-NINE

FEAR OF THE LORD

Exodus 12:29-30: “Then, at midnight, the Lord’s stroke fell; fell on

every first-born thing in the land of Egypt, whether it were the
first-born of Pharao, where he sat on his throne, or the first-born
of some captive woman where she lay in her dungeon; all the
first-born, too, of their cattle. So Pharao and all his servants and
all Egypt rose up at dead of night, and all over Egypt there was
loud lament; in every house a man lay dead.”

day 29 meditation

I t is odd. In compiling these email posts, several Scripture

commentaries are consulted in order for the truth to emerge from
the text. But these verses, 29 and 30, have little to nothing recorded. Is
it possible that, in the face of God Almighty and his dreadful action,

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 man has nothing to say? Again, we are inclined to be angry with God
and blame him for the chaos and death that we encounter, but perhaps
it is better to hold the tongue. God is our God. He never chose sin,
suffering, and death for mankind. Man, himself, made that choice. He
truly is a God of love. If Pharaoh had cooperated with him, he would
have seen that love. Contemplating the most gruesome betrayal in
all history, St. Leo the Great cried out, “Judas if only you had waited
for the completion of your crime until the blood of Christ had been
poured out for all sinners, you would have put off the gruesome death
of hanging.” God is the God of us all.

In addition, is it a fault of modern man to question God? Truly,

nothing is recorded in Sacred Scripture that does not have a good and
holy interpretation. On the other hand, who is man that he would
rise up in all his “glory” and question Almighty God about anything?
Perhaps man has become even more arrogant and prideful. God placed
man in the Garden of Eden in complete harmony with himself and
with other human beings and the created world. It was man that
changed everything and brought chaos into God’s ordered world.

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 WEEK FIVE:
ACTION LIST

1) Keep this in mind: you will fail Exodus if you are not joyful. This
is not easy! Stress from work, obligations, and day to day living, can
all be challenging enough without the burdens of Exodus, but to truly
succeed in Exodus, joy is a necessity. Nobody, really, should know what
you are doing. You have your team; you are accompanied by the angels
and watched by the Lord. Be at peace; be filled with JOY. You are
becoming a new man and by now, you should begin to feel the change.

2) Participants in Exodus discovered that if one brother “cheated”

on a discipline, it truly seemed to effect the other men on his team
as well. One man took a long hot shower early in the morning only
to discover he was tempted in a sexual nature for the rest of the day.
When he reported his compromise to the group, they all stared at him
in wonder… the entire team was tested severely that day… and now
the brothers knew why. Persevere!

3) As the journey to day 90 (The Promised Land) continues,

remember that you are not alone. Men from all over the country are
engaged in Exodus. Believe that they are praying for you and be sure to
pray for them. This intercessory prayer is extremely effective and essential
to men engaged in Exodus. Your brothers around the country are
depending upon your prayer, remember them; and enjoy the prayers that
are said for you.

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 DAY THIRTY

DEATH WILL COME SOON, USE YOUR TIME WISELY

Exodus 12:31-36: “And it was still night when Pharao sent for Moses
and Aaron, and said to them, Up, out of my kingdom, you and
all the people of Israel with you; go and offer this Lord of yours
the sacrifice you spoke of. You shall have your way, and take
your flocks and herds with you; leave me only your blessing, and
begone. The Egyptians, too, urged the people to hasten their
departure; We are dead men else, they said. So the Israelites
carried away the dough in their kneading-troughs before they
had time to leaven it, tying it up in cloths and carrying it on their
shoulders. Nor did they forget to do what Moses had bidden
them; they asked the Egyptians for gold and silver trinkets, and
a great store of garments. And the Lord let his people have their
way with the Egyptians, claiming as they would; so they took toll
of Egypt.”

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 day 30 meditation

M uch has been made of unleavened bread in Sacred Scripture.

The Jewish feast of Passover required the use of unleavened
bread in the sacred meal. So much importance was placed on bread
without leaven, that Christians even adopted its use in the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass. Today’s Scripture passage reveals the origin
of this sacred bread: “So the people took their dough before it was
leavened,” and rushed out of Egypt. Thereafter, the bread would be
institutionalized: “You shall eat no leavened bread with passover; seven
days you shall eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction -- for
you came out of the land of Egypt in hurried flight -- that all the days
of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land
of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 16:3).

What does the use of unleavened bread tell us? Frankly, and this may
be terrifying for some, the bread reminds us of our own exodus or
moving from this world to the next. The bread is a reminder of death.
The Hebrew people had very little time to escape from Egypt, so little
time, they did not even have time to leaven their bread. Time was
scarce, action was required. In the same way, as a man grows old (most
especially when he is young) he believes he has an abundance of time.
He never ponders his mortality or contemplates the day he will die.
Be that as it may, the day soon comes when a man experiences an auto
accident, a heart-attack, a stroke, or has an encounter with violence or
a simple accident at home, and suddenly he realizes what little time
he has on Earth. He may even be overcome with anxiety and fear as
he realizes, maybe for the first time, that time is not unlimited. Then,
just like the Hebrews, he is in a rush to “get things in order,” especially
his personal life. The Hebrew people did not have time to leaven their
bread… this becomes a symbol for us of the shortness of life – “putting
things off” is never a good idea. In addition, the Book of Deuteronomy

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 tells us that the unleavened bread is a “bread of affliction” another
symbol to remind us that, truthfully, life can be an affliction. May
God be praised! He has chosen to “drag” you into this crazy exercise
of Exodus! He has given you this valuable time to consider your life,
deepen relationships, purge yourself of sin, and reorder your life to
God. He is a God of Wisdom and love! No matter how much Exodus
challenges us, it is good that you are here!

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 DAY THIRTY-ONE

GOD PROVIDES

Exodus 12:37-42: "The Israelites, then, set out from Ramesses to Socoth,
about six hundred thousand men on the march, not reckoning
in the children; and with them a mingled array of other folk, past
counting; they had flocks and herds, too, and beasts of all kinds, in
great numbers. For cooking they used the dough which they had
brought with them all the way from Egypt, making girdle-cakes
without any yeast in them; they had had no time to leaven it, no
chance of making provision for their journey, with the Egyptians
eagerly bidding them begone, and allowing them no respite. It was
four hundred and thirty years since the Israelites had first dwelt
in Egypt; at the end of that time, the whole muster of the Lord’s
people left Egypt in a single day. It is a night for keeping vigil in the
Lord’s honour, this night when he led them away out of the land of
Egypt; the sons of Israel, age after age, must needs observe it.”

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 day 31 meditation

I n this passage we see a remarkable testament to the generosity of

God. Gregory of Nazianzus turns our attention to the fact that,
Joseph the son of Jacob, arrived in Egypt alone. From this man came
the six hundred thousand men (not counting women and children)
recounted here. This instills two invigorating thoughts. Firstly, as the
saying goes, God cannot be outdone in generosity. Secondly, it is a
marvel what God can do so much with so little.

Moving forward in the 90 days of your Exodus, your daily offerings

are placed in the generous hands of Almighty God. Take heart! God is
generous and returns a hundred fold! You offer him your sacrifice, and
he gives you the joy of freedom.

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 DAY THIRTY-TWO

THE EUCHARIST AND COMMUNITY

Exodus 12:43-51: “And these are the rules for keeping the Pasch,
as the Lord gave them to Moses and Aaron. No alien is to
partake of it; a slave acquired by purchase may do so, if he will
be circumcised, but not a foreign resident, not a hired servant.
All of it must be eaten under the same roof; you must not take
any of the victim’s flesh elsewhere, or break it up into joints.
Every Israelite is bound to keep the observance. If any stranger
that lives among you wishes to be of your company, and to eat
the pasch, all the males of his household must be circumcised
before he can lawfully celebrate the rite. That done, he takes
rank as an inhabitant of the country; whereas the uncircumcised
are not allowed to partake of it. Native-born, or foreign resident,
the same rules are binding on everyone. So all the sons of Israel
carried out the divine commands Moses and Aaron had received;

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 and that same day the Lord led them away out of the land of
Egypt, company by company.”

day 32 meditation

H ow often have you heard it said that the Church discriminates

because she does not allow our non-Catholic brothers and sisters
receive Holy Communion in the Church? The mantra is annoying and it
is misleading. First, the Passover meal (an unblemished lamb is sacrificed)
prefigures or foreshadows the Eucharistic Liturgy (Christ, becomes the
unblemished Paschal sacrifice). Thus, by the command of God, “no
foreigner could partake of the passover sacrifice” without first being made
part of the community. The individual had to be circumcised – made
part of the community – before he was admitted to Passover. In a like
manner, the Church does not permit reception of Holy Communion
by non-Catholics as there is a problem with unity; a non-Catholic does
not participate in the unity of the Church. On the other hand, it is
wrong to say that a non-Catholic cannot receive Communion in the
Catholic Church. As a matter of fact, the Church wants these people
to receive Holy Communion! They only have to do what is required
of all Catholics: profess the Faith of the Church, be baptized, examine
their conscience, fast, go to Mass, and receive Holy Communion. Thus,
anyone and everyone is welcome to receive Communion, but we are all
bound to receiving the Sacrament worthily!

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 DAY THIRTY-THREE

REDEMPTION REQUIRES SUFFERING

Exodus 13:1-16 : “And this was another command the Lord gave to
Moses: Dedicate to me every first-born thing that Israel yields,
whether it be man or beast, the first-fruits of every womb; all
these are forfeit to me. And now Moses said to the people, To-
day you have left Egypt, your prison-house, and it is the Lord’s
constraining power that has won you your freedom; mark out
this day by eating no bread that has leaven in it, this day of early
spring which sees your departure. When the Lord has given thee
a home in the land of Chanaanite and Hethite, the Amorrhite,
Hevite and Jebusite, that land, all milk and honey, which he
promised thy fathers he would give thee, thou shalt keep alive,
this month, the old custom. For a whole week thou shalt eat
unleavened bread, and the seventh day of it shall be kept as a
feast in the Lord’s honour. During those seven days you shall

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 eat, all of you, bread without yeast in it; nothing leavened shall
be seen anywhere within the frontiers of thy domain. And thou
shalt tell thy children in those after times all the Lord did for
thee when thou madest thy escape from Egypt. This custom is
to endure like a mark branded on the hand, to be kept in view
like a badge worn on the forehead; the law of the Lord shall be
continually on thy lips; was it not the Lord’s constraining power
that rescued thee from Egypt? Thou shalt keep it alive, year after
year, when the appointed time comes round. And when the
Lord has made good his promise to thee and to thy fathers, by
bringing thee into the Chanaanite land and giving it to thee for
thy own, thou shalt dedicate to the Lord the first-born of every
womb, the first-fruits of all thy cattle; every such thing, if it be of
the male sex, is forfeit to him. When an ass has its first foal, thou
shalt offer a sheep in payment of its ransom; if not, it must be
killed. And every first-born man child of thy own race shall have a
price paid for his ransom. When, in after times, thy sons ask thee
what is the meaning of this, thou shalt tell them how the Lord’s
constraining power rescued you from your prison-house in Egypt;
how Pharao’s heart was hardened, and he would not let you go
free, until the Lord slew every first-born male thing, man or beast,
in the land of Egypt. That (thou shalt say) is why I immolate to the
Lord every first-born thing, the first-fruits of every womb, except
among my own children; and for these I must pay ransom; this
custom is to endure like a mark branded on the hand, to be kept
in view like a badge worn on the forehead, to remind you, too,
how the Lord’s constraining power rescued us from Egypt.”

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 day 33 meditation

C urious, why did the firstborn sons require a consecration or

redemption? First, this redemption or “buying back” of the
firstborn son recalls that God has spared the firstborn of the Hebrews,
but not the Egyptian firstborn, on the night the Hebrews departed from
Egypt. By redeeming the firstborn son, the people would be obliged to
recall every year that God had spared the firstborn of the Hebrews. The
first born sons became a ministering class or an order of priests. This
would remain true until the gravely unfortunate incident of the golden
calf, when the privilege was taken away from the firstborn son and given
to the tribe of Levi; the tribe that rectified the situation. Later, Jesus
Christ would serve as a priest… especially on Good Friday when he
would be both priest and victim offered on the altar.

That would change everything. Listen to the hymn in the Book of

Revelation chanted by the saints in heaven following the victory of Jesus
Christ: “Worthy art thou to take the scroll and to open its seals, for thou
wast slain and by thy blood didst ransom men for God from every tribe
and tongue and people and nation, and hast made them a kingdom and
priests to our God, and they shall reign on earth.” Following the victory
of Christ over sin and death, all mankind becomes a member of a priestly
cast, although one different in degree from the Church’s priesthood. And
the significance? A priest offers sacrifice. You, a member of the common
priesthood, ought to offer sacrifice. What sacrifice? St Paul tells us: “I
appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your
bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your
spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1).

Exodus, in which you are now engaged, is a perfect offering to God. You
have proven yourself to be a good and worthy priest of Jesus Christ.

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 DAY THIRTY-FOUR

SPIRITUAL BATTLE

Exodus 13:17 - 14:9: "Thus the people had Pharao’s leave to go on

their way; but God did not lead them by the nearest road, the
road through Philistia. Here they would have found themselves
met by armed resistance, and perhaps, in despair of their
enterprise, returned to Egypt. He took them round, instead,
through the desert which borders on the Red Sea; and yet the
Israelites left Egypt in war-like array. Nor did Moses forget to
take with him the body of Joseph, who had bound the sons of
Israel by an oath to carry his bones away with them when God
shewed mercy to them. Their first encampment after leaving
Socoth was at Etham, on the very frontier of the desert. And the
Lord went on before, to guide them on their journey; by day, in
a pillar of cloud, by night, in a pillar of fire; he was their guide at
all times; every day a pillar of cloud, every night a pillar of fire
moved on before the people.

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 Then the word of the Lord came to Moses, bidding him give
the Israelites fresh orders. They were to turn back and encamp
round Phihahiroth, between Magdal and the sea, opposite
Beelsephon, pitching their tents close to the western shore of
the sea. Pharao (the Lord told them) will think that the Israelites
have no room to move, caught there in the desert; and I will
harden his heart, so that he will give pursuit. Then I will win
victory over Pharao and all his armies, and Egypt will learn to
know me, the Lord, for what I am. The people did as they were
bidden. And now, when the news of their escape reached the
Egyptian court, Pharao and his servants changed their minds
about the Israelites; What madness was this, they said, to let
our slaves go free! So Pharao harnessed his chariot, and took
all his troops with him; not only his best chariots, six hundred
in number, but all that were to be found in Egypt, and all the
captains of his army. Thus the Lord hardened the heart of
Pharao, king of Egypt, and he pursued the Israelites in the hour
of their triumphant escape. All Pharao’s horses and chariots,
and the whole of his army, followed close on the track of the
fugitives, and came upon them where they lay encamped by the
sea, at Phihahiroth, opposite Beelsephon."

day 34 meditation

C ardinal Jean Daniélou wrote of the conflict between Christ and

his Catechumen (those non-Christians who await baptism) and
his enemy, Satan, carefully describing (because of our blindness) all we
fail to see.

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 “The catechumen’s forty days of Lent are a time of trial, a time of serous
conflict while Satan and his angels strive to keep possession of the
catechumen’s soul. This is no figure of speech, but must be understood
in literal reality: for an un-baptized person is … subject to the active
domination of the powers of darkness, and needs to be wrested out of
captivity. [Conversion is] an engagement of hostilities with the powers of
evil: and the operations of this war take place in the supernatural field;
they belong to the mystery of sanctity: it is through prayer and penance
that devils are cast out. [Christ] crushes the serpents head, but its coils
are writhing yet to ensnare the peoples of the earth, Satan, seeing his prey
about to escape [as Easter approaches], redoubles his efforts against the
catechumen; but during the forty days, Christ’s hold is strengthening,
too. The devil keeps up his pressure all the while until the very moment
of the Easter Vigil and the very edge of the baptismal font.

“Then, and only then, the impossible thing comes to pass; the sea is
divided. … As the waters were opened for the Israelites, and the gates of
death were opened for the Lord Jesus, even so the catechumen goes down
into the water of baptism, makes his crossing, leaves behind him Pharaoh
and his host, the devil and his angels, and comes out on the other side…
He is saved!”

Baptism, given to us for our salvation, is more than a simple rite. It is

more than mere superstition!

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 DAY THIRTY-FIVE

GOD KNOWS YOUR DESIRES EVEN IF YOU DO NOT

Exodus 14:10-20: “What fear fell upon the Israelites, how they cried
out to the Lord, when they looked round at Pharao’s approach,
and saw the Egyptians close behind them! Were there no graves
for us in Egypt, they asked Moses, that thou hast brought us here,
to die in the desert? Was it not ill done, to bring us away from
Egypt at all? And did we not tell thee as much while we were still
there? Leave us, we said, to our Egyptian bondage; better slavery
here, than death in the desert. But Moses said to the people,
Have no fear; wait patiently; the Lord means to do a miracle to-
day under your eyes. The Egyptians you see now, you are seeing
for the last time; they will disappear from your sight for ever. It is
the Lord that will do battle for you; your part is silence. And the
Lord’s word came to Moses, No need to cry to me for aid; bid the
Israelites march on. 16 And do thou, meanwhile, lift up thy staff,

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 and stretch out thy hand over the sea, parting it this way and
that, so that the Israelites can walk through the midst of the sea
dry-shod. Then I will harden Pharao’s heart, so that he will give
pursuit, and I will win victory over Pharao and all his army, over
his chariots and horsemen. Vain the chariot, vain the horseman;
I will teach the Egyptians to know me, the Lord, for what I am.
And with that, God’s angel, that went on before the host of
Israel, moved to their rear; the pillar of cloud, too, left its place
in the van and came behind them. It stood there between the
Egyptian camp and the camp of Israel, a cloud that shed light in
the darkness, yet was itself deep mist, so that neither army could
approach the other all that night."

day 35 meditation

T his awesome event is a familiar one to many: the parting of the

Red Sea. Backed into an impossible situation, the Hebrews finds
themselves with a very angry Egyptian military force behind them
beckoning them to return to slavery and a giant body of water defiantly
denying them escape. God speaks to Moses and asks a peculiar
question, “Why do you cry to me?” This question is peculiar because
it seems as though God is responding to something Moses said…but
Moses did not say anything! God knows the desires of the heart – they
speak to him. What a consolation! Even if we do not know what to ask,
perhaps even if we ask for the wrong thing, God knows us better than
we know ourselves. Even if we ask for reprieve from our sacrifices, God
wants what we truly want for ourselves. We do not want the passing
pleasure of a Netflix binge. We do not want a beer. We do not want the
stale glow of a computer screen promising pleasure or distraction. We

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 want joy! We want freedom! Our hearts cry out to God, “Give me joy!”
and God says “Why do you cry to me?”
We know the rest of the story. The impossible happens. Moses raises
his rod at the behest of God and the freedom that started to vanish
suddenly was back in play. Return to the Lord. Speak to him in the
quiet of your soul. He knows your desire. Lift your rod and march
towards your freedom.

We know the rest of the story. The impossible happens. Moses raises
his rod at the behest of God and the freedom that had started to vanish
suddenly was back in play. Return to the Lord. Speak to him in the
quiet of your soul. He knows your desire. Lift your rod and march
towards your freedom.

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 DAY THIRTY-SIX

THE POWER OF GOD TO CREATE AND RECREATE

Exodus 14:21-31: “Meanwhile, Moses stretched out his hand over

the sea, and the Lord cleared it away from their path. All night
a fierce sirocco blew, and the Lord turned the sea into dry land,
the waters parting this way and that. So the Israelites went
through the midst of the sea dry-shod, with its waters towering
up like a wall to right and left. And the Egyptians, still in pursuit,
pressed on after them, all Pharao’s mounted troops, his chariots
and horsemen, driving on through the midst of the sea. It
was already the first watch of the morning, when suddenly,
through the pillar of fire and mist, the Lord looked down upon
the Egyptians, and brought their army to its doom. He turned
the wheels of their chariots aside, so that they drove through
deep places, and the Egyptians began to say, Back, back! There
is no facing Israel; the Lord is fighting on their side against us.

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 Then the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out thy hand over the
sea, so that its waters shall recoil on the Egyptians, on all their
chariots and their horsemen. And when Moses stretched out
his hand towards the sea, at early dawn, it went back to its
bed, so that its waters met the Egyptians in their flight, and
the Lord drowned them amid the waves. Back came the water,
overwhelming all the chariots and horsemen of Pharao’s army
that had entered the sea in their pursuit; not a man escaped.
But the sons of Israel made their way through the midst of the
sea where it had parted, its waters towering like a wall to right
and left. So the Lord rescued Israel that day from the assault of
the Egyptians; and when they saw the dead Egyptians washed
up on the shore, and the great defeat the Lord had inflicted
upon them, the people learned to fear the Lord, putting their
trust in him and in his servant Moses."

day 36 meditation

T o benefit from the Scripture, we must listen to the Scriptures. For

example, a superficial reading of today’s passage would miss a very
important detail that enlightens the entire biblical story. For, we read,
“and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind…” There
is a theme here that must be recognized in order to understand the
motivation of the Hebrew God.

• The first time we hear of the sea and the spirit of

God is in Genesis: “In the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth. The earth was without form
and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep;
and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the
waters” (Genesis 1:1-2).
®

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 • And at the time of Noah and the flood: “But God
remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle
that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind
blow over the earth, and the waters subsided…”
(Genesis 8:1-2).

Both of these passages indicate (or presume) the presence of God and
the power of the Holy Spirit in the form of wind. God is creating and
re-creating. Both of these passages teach us of our own Baptism whereby
the Holy Spirit hovers over the waters (as he did when Jesus, himself, was
baptized) regenerating, re-creating, forming a new! One of the Church
Fathers wrote, “Everything that happened to Christ lets us know that, after
the bath of water, the Holy Spirit swoops down upon us from high heaven
and that, adopted by the Father’s voice, we become sons of God.”

“The two principle effects of baptism,” we are told in the Catechism, are
“purification from our sins and new birth in the Holy Spirit.” Again, do
not underestimate your own Baptism. Call upon the grace you received at
Baptism to free you from all that enslaves you, most especially sin. Allow
God to take command and rely on his power to save, to renew, to preserve,
to make you the recreated man he intends you to be.

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 WEEK SIX:
ACTION LIST

1) As the Hebrews begin their 40 years slogging

through the desert, so you are now deeply involved in
the disciplines of Exodus. Be sure to avoid complacency
and the temptation to ease off the daily disciplines.
Keep reminding yourself, Exodus is but 90 days and
you will arrive at a new life in Christ.

2) Be sure to remind yourself that you are not

sacrificing for the sake of the sacrifice. You are denying
yourself pleasures and comforts in a wonderful exchange
for a greater stake in the life of Christ and the Most
Holy Trinity.

3) So much suffering and struggle surround

you even now. Your family and friends are all being
constantly tried and tested, even battered by the Evil
One. Offer your sacrifices and suffering for each of
them by name. You will be amazed by the spiritual gifts
that will be granted to them as you unite your suffering
to the suffering of Christ crucified!

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 DAY THIRTY-SEVEN

GOD IS LORD OF ALL

Exodus 15:1-21: “Then Moses and the Israelites sang praise to the
Lord, and this was their song: A psalm for the Lord, so great he
is and so glorious; horse and rider hurled into the sea! Who but
the Lord is my protector, the pride of my song; who but the Lord
has brought me deliverance? Shall I not praise him, my own God;
shall I not extol him, the God of my father before me? The Lord,
the warrior God, whose very name tells of omnipotence! That
power could hurl Pharao’s chariots, Pharao’s army, into the sea;
drowned in the Red Sea, the flower of all his chivalry; the depths
closed over them, and they sank to the bottom like a stone. How
magnificent, Lord, is the strength of thy right hand; that right
hand which has shattered the enemy! Against such majesty rose
they but to fall; the hot breath of thy anger burnt them up like
stubble. The waters were piled high through the blast of thy fury;
the waves were still, at the sea’s heart the depths congealed.
After them, seize them! the enemy cried; there will be spoils for

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 all, to our heart’s content; now to unsheathe my sword, and deal
the fatal blow! A breath from thee, and the sea closed over them;
they sank in the raging waters like lead. What power is there,
Lord, that can match thee? Who, as thou art, is august in holiness,
who so worthy of fear and of praise, who so wonderful in his
doings? Thou hadst but to stretch out thy hand, and the earth
swallowed them up. Thy mercy had delivered Israel; thy mercy
should be their guide; thy strong arms should carry them to the
holy place where thou dwellest. The heathen raged in their hill-
fastnesses; anguish came upon Philistia’s citizens, the chieftains
of Edom were dismayed, the warriors of Moab overcome with
fear; a numbness seized upon all that dwelt in Chanaan. Terror
and dread must needs fall upon them; still as a stone, under the
threat of thy powerful arm, they must watch thy people go by, thy
ransomed people, Lord, go by unharmed. Entry thy people should
have, and a home on the mountain thou claimest for thy own, the
inviolable dwelling-place, Lord, thou hast made for thyself, the
sanctuary thy own hands have fashioned! The reign of the Lord
will endure for ever and ever. To horse! cried Pharao, and swept
chariots and horsemen on into the sea; and the Lord brought the
waters of the sea back over them, while the sons of Israel went
through the midst of it dry-shod. Hereupon Mary the prophetess,
Aaron’s sister, went out with a tambour in her hand, and all the
women-folk followed her, with tambour and with dances, and
took up from her the refrain, A psalm for the Lord, so great he is
and so glorious; horse and rider hurled into the sea!"

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 day 37 meditation

F inally, after so long a conflict, the Hebrew people enjoy the great gift
of freedom. So overwhelmed, both Moses and his sister Miriam break
into song as man sings whenever God delivers him from despair and
death. A new song? A new song is sung whenever a new deliverance was
wrought by the Lord (For example: Moses after the Red Sea, David after
he was delivered from his foes...). We see this following Christ’s victory on
the cross in the Book of Revelation: “...and they sang a new song, saying,
‘Worthy art thou to take the scroll and to open its seals, for thou wast slain
and by thy blood didst ransom men for God from every tribe and tongue
and people and nation and hast made them a kingdom and priests to our
God, and they shall reign on earth…’” (5:9-10). Christ was ‘slain’ and by
his blood he ‘delivered’ the whole of humanity from the power of evil. The
verb ‘to deliver’ refers to the first Exodus, the deliverance of Israel from
Egyptian slavery.

Moses sings “Who is like thee, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like
thee, majestic in holiness, terrible in glorious deeds, doing wonders? Thou
didst stretch out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.” God delivers
his people from the domination and influence of the many gods of Egypt –
he accomplishes what he intended to do from the beginning. We ought to
consider the many “gods” that continue to dominate our own lives. Exodus
is meant to break our bond to these gods and reorder our lives to the One
True God. Man is magnificent – a word derived from Latin: magnus =
“great” and facere = “to make”. Man was made magnificent as he was made
for God… only God. That is man’s destiny. Thus, embrace Exodus and
divorce yourself from the false and empty gods that plague us in this world.
And, when it is too much to accomplish on our own, we should, with great
confidence, implore God to deliver us from the grasp of all that is false
and offensive to the God who made us and never ceases to bestow all good
things upon us.

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 DAY THIRTY-EIGHT

THE CROSS MAKES LIFE SWEET

Exodus 15:22-27: “And now Moses led Israel away from the Red
Sea, and they went out into the desert of Sur, where they found
no water in three days’ marching over waste ground. So they
came to Mara, and even here they could not drink the water, so
brackish it was to the taste; it was with good reason he called it
Mara, for Mara means Bitterness. Here the people were loud in
their complaints against Moses; What shall we do for water? they
said. Whereupon he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord shewed
him a tree whose wood turned the waters sweet when it was
thrown into them. Here, too, he gave them laws and decrees to
live by, and issued this challenge to them: If thou wilt listen to the
voice of the Lord thy God, his will doing, his word obeying, and
all he bids thee observe, observing faithfully, never shall they fall
on thee, the many woes brought on Egypt; I am the Lord, and it
is health I bring thee. After this the Israelites came to Elim, where
they found twelve springs of water and seventy palm-trees, and
pitched their tents beside the water."

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 day 38 meditation

H opefully, as we make our way through Exodus and as we follow

the Book of Exodus, you have begun to see that many of the
unexplained mysteries in the venerable Old Testament Book are
unexplainable absent the Christ event. Today, the Hebrew people, fresh
from slavery and enjoying the first days of their new freedom, find
themselves without water – in a merciless desert. And, as will happen
many times to come, they despair of God’s providence and fearfully press
Moses for a solution to their immediate problem. So, they come to the
water of Marah, but find it unpalatable, “because it was bitter.” To solve
the problem, Moses grabs a tree… a what? A tree… and throws it into the
bitter water, thus making it sweet to drink. What are we to make of such
an act? Not much, until its meaning is revealed in the New Testament.
Therein, Christ takes “the tree” which is the foreshadowing of the cross,
and “throwing” it into our lives, makes our life -with all its burdens and
trials, bitter as it is- sweet and light. For Christ said, “Take my yoke upon
you [i.e. the cross] and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden
is light.” In other words, his burden, which is the cross he commanded
us to “take up” is sweet. You have seen this in your own life. For example,
digging a hole in your backyard for a sceptic tank is bitter and difficult
work, but if you are digging a hole in your backyard to build a swimming
pool for your children, the work is easy and the burden light.

As a participant in Exodus, we ought to look upon the disciplines and the

work as sweet, easy, and light as we are engaged in this odyssey for Christ
and we are taking up the cross and following him. Praise be Jesus Christ for
this fantastic opportunity!

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 DAY THIRTY-NINE

THE HEROISM OF STRUGGLE

Exodus 16:1-3: “Then, leaving Elim, the Israelite people marched

to the desert of Sin, between Elim and Sinai. It was now the
fifteenth day of the second month since they had left Egypt, and
the Israelites, one and all, there in the desert, were loud in their
complaints against Moses and Aaron. It would have been better,
they told them, if the Lord had struck us dead in the land of
Egypt, where we sat down to bowls of meat, and had more bread
than we needed to content us. Was it well done to bring us out
into this desert, and starve our whole company to death?"

day 39 meditation

I t is easy at times to look at the prominent figures in Scripture and

feel an odd sense of superiority over them when they fail. The
familiarity of the stories can instill a caricaturized image and along with

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 it a sense of entitled prejudice. St. Peter denies Christ and we stifle a
scoff at his cowardice. St. Paul stands by and holds the cloaks of St.
Stephen’s murderers and we nurse a subtle indignation at his blindness.
David commits adultery and we nurse a sense of scandal at this great
man’s terrible failure. Adam sins and condemns his sons to death.

Here, in this scene, it is easy to look at these tired, hungry, thirsty,

uncomfortable people and think “what a bunch of babies”. Let’s look
at the scoreboard; God liberates them from their oppression, parts the
Red Sea to secure their escape, drowns their oppressors and feeds them
with manna come down from heaven.

In light of all of this, they whine. Worse, they want to go back to

slavery because the food was better and they missed the security that
comes along with the status quo. Ah – but there is that caricature!
On this 39th day of struggle, one can certainly sympathize with the
demands of the people of Israel. The status quo looks good to them.
But they know, in their hearts, that the status quo does not just mean
a bed and regular meals. It means the threat of their children being
murdered because the Pharaoh feels threatened. It means an inability to
freely honor their God. It means back breaking work to the glory of a
country not their own and in honor of gods they do not reverence. The
status quo is hell.

In this moment, the Israelites are posed with an ultimatum: Go back

to the status quo, or really, truly, let it go. St. John Cassian says “bodily
renunciation and removal from Egypt, as it were, will be of no value
to us, therefore if we have been unable to obtain at the same time the
renunciation of heart which is more sublime and more beneficial.”

As we continue on, our passions whining for the status quo of slavery,
embrace the ultimatum – choose to let the slavery to vice go.

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 DAY FORTY

GOD FEEDS US IN THE EUCHARIST

Exodus 16:4-21: “But the Lord said to Moses, I mean to rain down
bread upon you from heaven. It will be for the people to go out
and gather enough for their needs day by day; and so I shall have
a test, whether they are ready to follow my orders or not. Only
when the sixth day comes must they lay in a store twice as large
as they gathered on any of the others. So Moses and Aaron told
all the people of Israel, This night shall bring proof it was the Lord
that rescued you from Egypt, and to-morrow you shall witness his
glory. He has heard your complaints against himself—not against us,
we are nothing. The Lord (said Moses) means to give you meat for
your food this evening, and bread tomorrow to your heart’s content.
Not unheard, the complaints you have brought against him; we
count for nothing, it is the Lord’s dealings you complain of, not ours.
And Moses would have Aaron summon the whole people into the

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 Lord’s presence, that had heard them talk so rebelliously. Even as
Aaron was speaking to the assembled Israelites, they looked round
towards the desert, and saw the glory of the Lord revealed there
in a cloud. And the Lord said to Moses, This be thy answer to the
rebel talk I hear: This evening you shall have meat, and bread to-
morrow to your hearts’ content; will you doubt, then, that I am the
Lord your God? Evening came, and brought with it a flight of quails,
that settled in every part of the camp. And at morning, all about the
camp, dew was lying; dew that covered the earth’s surface, there in
the desert, powdered fine as if it had been brayed by a pestle, lying
on the ground like hoar-frost. The Israelites could not tell what it
was when they went to look at it; Man-hu, they said to one another,
What is it? And Moses told them, This is the bread which the Lord
has sent for your eating. And this is the command the Lord gives
you; everyone is to gather enough for his needs; a gomor a head is
the measure he is to take up, just so much for each person living in
his tent. So the children of Israel did as they were bidden, gathering
up one more, another less, and each of them measuring it by the
measure of a gomor. The man who gathered more did not gather
too much for his household, or the man who gathered less too little;
each gathered according to the number of mouths that must be
filled. None of you, Moses told them, must keep any of it for the
morrow. Little heed they gave him, but when some of them left
part of it over till morning, it bred worms and corrupted, and Moses
rebuked them for their disobedience. So, every morning, each man
gathered what would suffice for his needs; whatever was left till the
sun grew hot, melted away."

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 day 40 meditation

H ow many times have we heard the Eucharistic prayer proclaimed

at Mass, “Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending
down your spirit upon them like the dewfall...?” The Hebrew
people, wondering in the desert and completely dependent upon
the providence of God, cry out to him for sustenance. Hearing their
prayer, he responds generously with bread and manna from heaven
that miraculously appeared in the morning dewfall, feeding his people
with tender and reliable care. Likewise, as Christians, having passed
through the waters of Baptism, now find ourselves in the desert of life –
sometimes bitter, sometimes unbearable – and we, too, cry out to God
for sustenance. Without fail, God grants us what we need. And Christ
promises us, “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the
wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down from
heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die” (John 6:48-50). And, like
the Hebrew people in the desert who did not know how it happened,
but that it did happen, we pray, that by “sending down your spirit
upon them like the dewfall” the bread and wine becomes the Body and
Blood of Jesus Christ.

And, of course, when the bread came down from heaven, the Hebrew
people were amazed and said, “What is it?” We, too, are left with the
same amazement. Could Christ Jesus actually give himself entirely to us
for our salvation? This is a truth to be contemplated with due care!

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 DAY FORTY-ONE

SPENDING TIME WITH GOD

Exodus 16:22-36: “When the sixth day came, they gathered a double
allowance of two gomors a head. And when this was reported
to Moses by those who were in command of the people, he told
them, Why, that is the direction the Lord has given us. Tomorrow
is the sabbath, a day of rest consecrated to the Lord; prepare all
you need to prepare, cook all you need to cook, for to-day, and
leave what is over for to-morrow. And when they did as Moses
had bidden them, they found that what they had left overnight
did not corrupt or breed worms at all. That is your food for today,
Moses told them, because it is the Lord’s sabbath; go out today,
and you will find nothing. You have only six days to gather it in;
you will find none on the seventh, the Lord’s day of rest forbids it.
And sure enough, when some of the people went out to gather it
on the seventh day, they could find none. Hereupon the Lord said

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 to Moses, Will you never learn to do as my law commands you?
Can you not see that the sabbath is the Lord’s gift to you, and if
he gives you a double allowance on the sixth day, it is because
you must all stay within doors, not leaving your homes, on the
seventh? So on the seventh day the people kept the sabbath rest.
This food, which the Israelites called Mán, was white in colour
and looked like coriander seed; its taste was like that of flour
mixed with honey. And now Moses told them a fresh command
he had had from the Lord; he was to fill a gomor with it, and this
was to be kept, so that later generations might know what kind
of nourishment it was I gave them in the desert, when they had
been rescued from the land of Egypt. Take a jar, Moses said to
Aaron, put into it as much of the manna as a gomor measure
will contain, and leave it to lie in the presence of the Lord, as a
treasure for after ages to keep. Such was the Lord’s command to
Moses; so Aaron left the jar to lie in the tabernacle, where it was
to be kept. The Israelites fed on this manna for forty years, while
they were far from the haunts of men; this was their nourishment
until they reached the frontiers of Chanaan. (Note that the gomor
measures a tenth of a bushel.)"

day 41 meditation

G od promulgates regulations surrounding the consumption of the

miraculous manna and reveals something very interesting in the
passage. On the sixth day, the people were told to collect enough manna
for two days in order that, on the seventh, the Sabbath, the people
could rest. This command reflects the regulation found in Genesis,
“So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God

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 rested from all his work which he had done in creation” (2:30) and the
pronouncement of the Ten Commandments in Exodus, “Remember
the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your
work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; in it you
shall not do any work…” (20:8-10). But it is not only the people who
observe the Sabbath, the Lord God does as well. Notice that the manna
is not delivered on the Sabbath; some even go out to find the manna and
there is none to collect. Now, the question arises, does God withhold the
manna on the Sabbath in order to allow the Hebrew people to rest, or
does he withhold the manna as the seventh day is “a day of solemn rest, a
holy Sabbath to the LORD” so that he can “rest”? More than likely, the
Sabbath is holy to the Lord and he, himself, observes the day of solemn
rest. This tells us that, even today, when we rest on Sunday, we do not do
so alone. We rest, intentionally, in the presence of God and he is attentive
to us. Just as two lovers find it unnecessary to talk or to be active when in
each other’s presence, so we are to be present to our God.

God created a world in which he and man can dwell together, especially
on the Sabbath; in turn, man created a world that keeps him so busy he
has no time to dwell with God, or anybody else for that matter. As Dr.
Scott Hahn has pointed out, man and beast were created together on the
sixth day, but man was created for the seventh day. When man works on
the seventh day, he falls back to the sixth… and is no better than a beast.

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 DAY FORTY-TWO

IS GOD AMONG US OR NOT?

Exodus 17:1-7: “Then the whole people of Israel left the desert of
Sin, moving on from stage to stage as the Lord directed them, and
encamped at Raphidim. But here they had no water to drink, so
they turned upon Moses crying out, We have nothing to drink;
find water for us. Why do you turn upon me? asked Moses. Will
you challenge the Lord? But the people, thirsting for lack of
water, grew loud in their complaints against Moses; Didst thou
bring us away from Egypt, they said, only to let as die here, with
our children and our cattle, of thirst? Moses had recourse to the
Lord; What can be done with them? he asked. A little more of this,
and they will begin stoning me. So the Lord bade Moses march
out at the head of the people, taking some of the elders of Israel
with him; and as he went, he was to carry in his hand the staff
which he had used to smite the river. I will meet thee, he said, at
the rock of Horeb; thou hast but to smite that rock, and water will

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 flow out of it, to give the people drink. All this Moses did, with
the elders of Israel to witness it; and the name he gave to that
place was Challenge, because it was there the Israelites turned
on him and challenged the Lord, by asking whether the Lord still
went with them or not."

day 42 meditation

T his question is asked as much in the contemporary world as it has

been down through the centuries: “Is God among us or not?” So
often, we live as though God does not exist, rarely contemplating his
presence or his wisdom, rarely taking him into account, rarely praising
and thanking him for all the blessings in our life. Then, when something
goes wrong, we eagerly blame God and, with righteous indignation,
condemn him for his perceived absence or inaction. Today, the Hebrews
go so far as to test him, making demands of him and coming very close
to cursing him for their misfortune. So, once again, to demonstrate his
care and providence to his people, he commands Moses to strike a rock
with his staff and immediately water flows from the rock. God grants us
the same miracle. When his Son, Jesus Christ, hung upon the cross, a
soldier took a spear and thrust it into the side of Christ, “striking” him,
and immediately blood and water flowed from his side. Christ is the
rock. God is the benevolent provider. All we need has been given to us.
“He who believes in me, from within him there shall flow rivers of living
water” (John 7:38).

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 DAY FORTY-THREE

“PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALL” VS.

“HE HATH LIFTED UP THE LOWLY”

Exodus 17:8-16: “And while they were at Raphidim, the Amalecites

came and offered the Israelites battle. So Moses said to Josue,
Muster me an army, and go out to fight against Amalec; I will
take my stand to-morrow on the hill top, with the miraculous
staff in my hand. And Josue did as Moses bade him, going out
to do battle with Amalec, while Moses, Aaron and Hur went up
to the hill top. Whenever Moses lifted up his hands, Israel had
the better of it; only when he rested for a little did the victory
go to Amalec. But now Moses’ arms grew weary; so they found
him a stone to sit on and bade him be seated on it; then, one
on each side, Aaron and Hur kept his hands lifted up. In this
way, the strength of his arms held out until set of sun, while
Josue routed Amalec, and all the forces Amalec could rally, at
the sword’s point. Put this on record in writing, the Lord said to
Moses, and recite it in Josue’s hearing: I mean to efface the very

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 name of Amalec from this earth. Moses, too, built an altar there,
and called it The Lord raises me up; and he cried out, Lift up
your hands to the Lord’s throne! The Lord declares war against
Amalec, for all ages to come."

day 43 meditation

A malek refuses the passage of the Israelites toward their promised

land. They have taken it upon themselves to be the opposition to
the Divine will. It is no wonder the Scriptures have named this people
“Amalek”, which quite literally means “sinful people”. Sinful indeed.
Obstinate to the will of God, Amalek confronts the Israelites on their
own authority to the glorification of their own pride. Here St. Augustine
offers some wisdom. Pride is, as the great doctor of the Church explains,
“that spirit which becomes an obstacle to things above and a mediator
to things below”. Of course, armed with the sacred virtue of humility,
Moses oversees the battle waged with Joshua’s leadership, hands raised, to
Israel’s victory.

How absurd. Amalek is violent and rearing for war. These sinful people
have the natural means to defeat the Israelites. Yet they do not. Why?
Because Moses is prepared to do the ridiculous. He leaves his hands
raised to God. Moses submits to God’s gratuity.

Equipped with the virtue of humility, your triumph is inevitable. But,

deluded by the idea that your grit and will power is what brought you to
this moment and will see you through, your fate will be the same at the
Amalek – prepared for war but doomed to fail.

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 WEEK SEVEN:
ACTION LIST

1) Congratulations, this week marks day 45, you

are half way to the Promised Land! The disciplines of
Exodus are, more than likely, becoming heavy and you may
be facing fatigue. Yet, it is important to allow the disciplines
to do their work. You have tried to rescue yourself in the
past, only to fail, time and time again. This is a time for
sacred passivity; cling to the cross with confidence, believe
that redemptive work is being accomplished in you by God.

2) Remember to be filled with joy. After all, when you

consider how far you have come… or more precisely, how far
God has brought you, you have much for which to be joyful.
Check your brothers: hope and joy ought to be driving your
fraternity into the future.

3) Check your anger. You are being tested and are learning
to rely more completely on God. Pride, resentment, and
self-dependence, can all foster an unholy anger in our souls.
With so many distractions removed from our spiritual life,
new understanding and new life ought to be taking root.

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 DAY FORTY-FOUR

HUMILITY REVISITED YET AGAIN

Exodus 18:1-27: "And now news reached Jethro, priest of Madian,

Moses’ father-in-law, of all that God had done for Moses and for
his people Israel, and how the Lord had rescued Israel from Egypt.
So he brought Moses his wife Sephora (for Moses had sent her
back home), and his two sons. The elder of these was called
Gersam, because his father said, I have been a stranger, Ger, in an
alien land, and the younger Eliezer, Help from God, because, said
Moses, the God of my father has helped me to escape from the
power of Pharao. So, here in the desert, where he lay encamped
close to God’s mountain, Moses was visited by his father-in-law
Jethro, and his sons, and his wife. Jethro had sent word on to tell
Moses who it was that came, and that he had Sephora and her
two sons with him; so Moses went out to meet his father-in-law,
bowing low and greeting him with a kiss, and words of peaceful

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 welcome passed between them. Then, within the shelter of his
tent, Moses told his father-in-law how the Lord had avenged
Israel on Pharao and the Egyptians; what hardships they had
met on the journey, and how the Lord had sent them relief. The
story of the Lord’s mercies to an oppressed people in delivering
them from the power of Egypt rejoiced Jethro’s heart; Blessed
be the Lord, he said, who has brought you deliverance when you
lay in the power of Pharao and of the Egyptians! Blessed be the
Lord, who has put an end to your slavery in Egypt! Now I know
for certain that the Lord is greater than all other gods! An ill day
for the Egyptians when they wronged you! So Moses’ father-in-
law Jethro brought offerings and sacrificed to God; and Aaron,
with all the elders of Israel, came to sit at meat with him, there
in God’s presence. Next day, Moses was in his place deciding
disputes among the people, who must stand there from morning
till evening waiting for an audience with him; and when Jethro
saw how he busied himself over the people’s needs, he asked,
What makest thou here among the people? Why dost thou sit
there alone, with all the people waiting upon thee from morning
till evening? They come to me, answered Moses, to find out
what God’s decision is. Some dispute arises among them, and
they come to me so that I may make a just award between them,
telling them of the decrees which God issues, and of his law. It is
ill conceived, said Jethro, this practice of thine. Thou wilt wear out
thy own strength, and the patience of this people that goes with
thee, and to no purpose; it is beyond thy powers to sustain this
office all alone. Here is a word of advice for thee; do but listen,
and God will speed thee. Thy part is to be the representative of
this people with God, referring all their affairs to him, prescribing

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 to them rite and observance, custom to be kept and duty to be
done. Meanwhile, choose out here and there among the people
able men, God-fearing, lovers of truth and haters of gain ill won;
put each of these in charge of a tribe, or of a hundred families, or
fifty families, or ten. These will administer justice to the people
from day to day, referring graver matters to thee, but deciding
for themselves all that is of less moment. Share thy burden with
others, and find relief; so thou wilt be able to carry out God’s
commands, and endure the weight of all his claims upon thee,
and yet all these folk will go home satisfied. Moses listened to all
that he proposed, and carried it into effect. He chose out here
and there among the Israelites active men, and made them rulers
of the people, with the charge of a tribe, or a hundred families, or
fifty families, or ten; and these administered justice to the people
day after day, referring graver matters to him, and deciding for
themselves all that was of less moment. And so he took leave of
his father-in-law, who now went back to his own country."

day 44 meditation

B y now in the story of Exodus, Moses has proven himself and

enjoys the regard and respect of his people. The people see him as a
mediator, a man who speaks for God himself. Moses has earned a great
amount of authority. And, as we have seen, he acts with great humility
and deference. When Jethro, his father-in-law comes into camp, they
greet one another warmly and celebrate the freedom of the Hebrew
people together. Jethro, a man who acts as a priest to his own people,
nearly chastises Moses for the manner in which he governs his people,
warning him that he will be overwhelmed and advising him to establish

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 a court system to be managed by competent tribesmen. Moses does not
regard his father-in-law’s intervention as a threat or as an attack on his
own authority. A man who has achieved so much and has been hugely
successful, very well might have rejected such advice as an insult, takes
the counsel and acts on it. Moses thus becomes an example to all men.

Humility is a greatly misunderstood virtue. By definition, it means

to know “the truth about oneself.” Therefore, a great man can also be
humble. He is humble who knows his strengths and weaknesses, his
abilities and his limitations, and importantly, his proneness to sin. He
acts with righteousness, but is never braggadocios as he knows that all
he has was given to him. He knows he is a thief when he takes credit
for any good work, as he steals glory from God.

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 DAY FORTY-FIVE

THE SENSE OF THE SACRED

Exodus 19:1-15: “The third new moon was rising since they left
the land of Egypt, on the day when the Israelites reached the
wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Raphidim, and marched
all the way to the Sinai desert before they encamped, pitching
their tents there in full view of the mountain. Here Moses
went up to meet God, and the voice of God came to him
from the mountain, A message to the race of Jacob; to Israel’s
sons proclaim it: You have seen for yourselves what I did to
the Egyptians, how I carried you as if on eagle’s wings, and
took you up into my care. Listen, then, to my voice, and keep
your covenant with me; and I, to whom all the earth belongs,
will single you out among its peoples to be my own. You shall
serve me as a royal priesthood, as a consecrated nation;tell
the Israelites this. So, when Moses came back, he summoned

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 the elders of the people, and told them what message it was
the Lord had entrusted to him; whereupon the whole people
answered with one voice, We will do all the Lord has said.
Moses went back to the Lord with this promise from the people,
and the Lord said to him, The time has come now when I mean
to visit thee, wrapped in a dark cloud, so that all the people
may hear me talking with thee, and obey thee without question
henceforward. And when Moses had told him of the people’s
promise, he said, Go back to the people, and spend to-day and
to-morrow ridding them of defilement. Let them wash their
clothes, and hold themselves in readiness for the third day; two
days from now, the Lord will come down on to mount Sinai in
the presence of all the people. Keep them within bounds along
the whole circle of it, and bid them beware of going up on
to the mountain, or touching even the fringes of it; if anyone
touches the mountain, his life must pay for it. No hand must
be laid on him, he must be stoned, or shot down with javelins;
beast or man that touches the mountain is to die. All this, until
they hear a blast on the ram’s horn; then let them go up on to
the mountain. So Moses went down again to the people, and rid
them of defilement. First they must wash their clothes; then he
bade them hold themselves in readiness for the third day, and
have no commerce with their wives."

day 45 meditation

T he people now prepare to meet God. Consider all the preparations

that must occur before the people encounter the God of their
Fathers: garment washing, abstinence, and respect. The people are

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 reminded that God is so imminently sacred that they are prohibited
from approaching, let alone touching, the mountain upon which
Moses will speak to God. Surely, so sacred is the mountain that to
touch it would result in execution by stoning or death!

Americans have lost the sense of the sacred. Rarely do we stand in awe
before the Lord and ponder our insignificance before him. The day
when, in our own parish Church, people rarely entered the sanctuary
unless properly vested and with great sensitivity and respect are gone.
The Hebrew people were advised to wash their garments and prepare
to receive the Lord. Today, grown men can be see attending the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass ungroomed, wearing flip flops, shorts and a tank
top and, God forbid, if they are questioned or challenged about their
appearance, they scowl and are incensed, demanding they not be
judged. “At least I am here,” is the shallow defense he presents.

In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we are presented to God, who abides
spiritually in the Sacred Scriptures and substantially in the Eucharist,
present “under the appearance of bread and wine”. A Catholic who
desires the relationship given above, to be “my own possession” as God
said above, will properly discern what is before him and will humbly
present himself to the Lord properly prepared and as ready as he can
be. Anything else is an offence against God and is a sacrilege!

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 DAY FORTY-SIX

THE REALITY OF GOD

Exodus 19:16-25: “And now the third day had come. Morning broke,
and all at once thunder was heard, lightning shone out, and the
mountain was covered with thick mist; loud rang the trumpet-
blast, and the people in the camp were dismayed. But Moses
brought them out from the camp itself to meet the Lord, and
they stood there close by the spurs of the mountain. The whole
of mount Sinai was by now wreathed in smoke, where the Lord
had come down with fire about him, so that smoke went up as if
from a furnace; it was a mountain full of terrors. Louder yet grew
the noise of the trumpet, longer its blast; and then Moses spoke
to the Lord, and the Lord’s voice was heard in answer. It was on
the very top of mount Sinai that the Lord had come down, and
now he called Moses up to the summit. When he had climbed up
there he was bidden go down again, and warn the people not to

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 pass beyond their bounds in their eagerness to see the Lord; or it
might be that a great multitude of them would incur death. Even
the priests who came into the Lord’s presence were to come
sanctified, for fear he should smite them. But, Lord, said Moses,
the common folk will be in no danger of climbing up on to Sinai;
thou thyself hast warned them, and bidden us set bounds, to
keep the mountain inviolable. Go down, the Lord said to him, and
come back with Aaron alone; neither priests nor people are to go
beyond their bounds, and come into the Lord’s presence, or he
will slay them. So Moses went back to the people, and told them
all he was bidden."

day 46 meditation

W ho is the real God? For so many years, God has been portrayed
to us as a mild individual, approachable, nothing to fear. A
recent best seller portrayed the Trinity as an African-American woman
(the Father), an Asian Woman (the Holy Spirit) and a hippy-like drop
out (the Son) that hung out in an old dilapidated shack. Rather than
man’s inspired realization that he is made in the image and likeness of
God, modern man has made God in his own image and likeness. We
have it backward!

The Scriptures that teach us the “fear of the LORD is the beginning of
wisdom…” (Proverbs 9:10) is completely forgotten. Think of your own
father; chances are, although you love him profoundly, you also had a
reverential fear of him. Otherwise, he would not inspire you, nor would
you respect him. The same is true for any good mentor: if he cannot
generate a reverential fear or respect, he is completely ineffective. God

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 is utter incomprehensibility and all powerful. He is infinitely “Other”.
This is not to say a man must dread his God, but he is deluding himself
if he considers his God to be harmless and irrelevant.

In today’s passage the people are alerted to the presence of God via the
trumpet: “the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder…” as God
approaches. Trumpets sound in Sacred Scripture for two prominent
reasons: to call men to battle and to call men to prayer. Ironic, the
two would be combined under the same sign. Or, perhaps it is not
ironic; perhaps the blare of the trumpet calls us to the battle of prayer
as warriors for God. Men will not rally and fight for a leader they do
not respect. Although it is not politically correct to say, but the familiar
words of Psalm 68 gives a perfect description of God’s triumph: “Let
God arise, let his enemies be scattered; let those who hate him flee
before him! As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts
before fire, let the wicked [the Evil One] perish before God!”

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 DAY FORTY-SEVEN

TRUE AND LASTING FREEDOM

Exodus 20:1-17: “And now God spoke all these words which follow.
I, the Lord, am thy God (he said); I, who rescued thee from the
land of Egypt, where thou didst dwell in slavery. Thou shalt not
defy me by making other gods thy own. Thou shalt not carve
images, or fashion the likeness of anything in heaven above,
or on earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth, to bow
down and worship it. I, thy God, the Lord Almighty, am jealous in
my love; be my enemy, and thy children, to the third and fourth
generation, for thy guilt shall make amends; love me, keep my
commandments, and mercy shall be thine a thousandfold. Thou
shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God lightly on thy lips; if
a man uses that name lightly, the Lord will not acquit him of sin.
Remember to keep the sabbath day holy. Six days for drudgery,
for doing all the work thou hast to do; when the seventh day

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 comes, it is a day of rest, consecrated to the Lord thy God. That
day, all work shall be at an end, for thee and every son and
daughter of thine, thy servants and serving-women, thy beasts,
too, and the aliens that live within thy gates. It was six days the
Lord spent in making heaven and earth and sea and all that is in
them; on the seventh day he rested, and that is why the Lord has
blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Honour thy father and
thy mother; so thou shalt live long to enjoy the land which the
Lord thy God means to give thee. Thou shalt do no murder. Thou
shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not
bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy
neighbor’s house, or set thy heart upon thy neighbor’s wife, or
servant, or hand-maid, or ox or ass or anything else that is his.”

day 47 meditation

A nother irony! The Hebrew people have just come from years of
servitude to the Pharaoh of Egypt and, by the miraculous and
powerful hand of the LORD, are just now enjoying the great gift and
privilege of freedom… and now God seems to crush the joy of the people
by constraining them by the shackles of 10 oppressive commandments!
What is this about? Are they not free men, able to make choices
and determine their own destiny? Why the oppressive demands of a
tyrannical God who seems to be lording his authority and power over the
people? Is freedom not the ability and authority of a man to choose what
is best for himself?

Do not be deceived!

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 The Lord God has invested much in man’s freedom. Having won
freedom for the Hebrew people… as he won our freedom on the cross,
the last thing God wants to see happen is the loss of this freedom. The
10 Commandments, then, are the assurance that freedom cannot be lost.
Consider the Commandments: each one is designed to prevent a man
from inadvertently becoming enslaved to Satan and sin a second time.
Violate any one of these Commandments, as we are so ready to do today,
and a person will find his freedom slipping away from him.

Man is nothing without freedom. God took a great risk in creating man
and then endowing him with the gift of freedom. Yet, he did so for one
reason: that we might have the capacity to love him. You see, without
freedom, man is incapable of love. Had God created us like robots and
programed us to love him, the whole affair would lack integrity and
creation would be useless. But having given man his freedom, more than
once (stress, “more than once”), he guarantees us the ability to love… to
love God above all things and our neighbor as yourself.

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 DAY FORTY-EIGHT

GOD IS A JEALOUS GOD

Exodus 20:18-21: “All the people stood watching while thunder

rolled and lightning flashed, while the trumpet sounded and the
mountain was wreathed in smoke, terrified and awe-stricken so
that they kept their distance, and cried out to Moses, Do thou tell
us the message; we are ready to obey thee. Do not let us hear
the Lord speaking; it will cost us our lives. But Moses said to the
people, Do not be afraid; God has come here to make trial of your
obedience; he would have you possessed with the fear of him, to
preserve you from sin. So the people stood their ground far off,
while Moses went up into the darkness where God was."

day 48 meditation

P erhaps we cringe when we are given commandments by which we

are to abide. We immediately perceive our freedom being restricted.
Nonetheless, God has made himself clear in yesterday’s passage: “…you

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 shall not bow down to them or serve [idols]; for I the LORD your God
am a jealous God.” As Origen taught, a bridegroom wishes to keep his
bride to himself, requiring her to be chaste and to live entirely to himself.
He is unwilling to share her with any other man. He may even pretend
to be jealous in order to reassure her of his devotedness to his bride. In
the same way, God speaks to the soul: “I am a jealous God and refuse to
allow fornication and intercourse with any demon or false god. You are
mine and I am yours.” There is no room for any sort of false god in our
relationship with him. God uses the pretense of jealousy to reminds us
that our love matters to him… something to be considered profoundly.

Remember that God says, “You have seen for yourselves that I have
talked with you from heaven.” When God says a word, it does not return
to him empty (Isaiah 55:11). He creates by his word (“Let there be light,
and there was light…” (Genesis 1:4)), he saved the Hebrews by his word
(“I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt…”
(Exodus 3:17)), and, when his word is spoken during the Holy Sacrifice
of the Mass, his word is effective: “Take and eat, this is my body” and
“take and drink, this is my blood.” God’s word is creative and redemptive
and altogether reliable.

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 DAY FORTY-NINE

RESPECT THE HUMAN PERSON

Exodus 21:1-11: “And these laws, he said, thou shalt promulgate to

them. If thou dost buy a slave that is a Hebrew by race, he shall
do thee six years’ service, and in the seventh year, without any
ransom paid, he shall go free. He shall leave thy service in the
same guise in which he entered it; if he came to thee married, his
wife shall go free with him. But if his master has assigned a wife
to him, and she has borne sons and daughters, this woman and
her children shall belong to the master; the slave shall go free in
the same guise as before. It may be that the slave, for love of his
master, and of his own wife and children, will refuse to take his
leave; if so, his master shall bring him before the judgement-seat,
and then fasten his ear with an auger to door or door-post, in
token that the man is his slave in perpetuity. If anyone sells his
daughter into a man’s service, she is not to go free on the same

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 conditions as a slave. The master to whom she has been made
over may send her away, if he has no liking for her, but he may
not sell her to foreign masters; he has done her despite enough
already. He may betroth her, if he will, to his son; but if he does
that, he must treat her as his daughter; and if he finds his son
another wife instead, he must marry the girl off, and give her
clothes, and make all amends for the loss of her virginity. If he
is not prepared to do these three things, then she must go free,
with no ransom paid for her."

day 49 meditation

F or the modern reader, reading scriptural ordinances governing slave

ownership can be very disconcerting, especially in the era of political
correctness and cultural sensitivity. Whether one accepts these modern
ways of thinking or not, it is hard to escape these philosophies. This often
results in a softness: modern sensitivities lead to a rejection of the facts of
human living and eventually to irrelevancy. So, rather than cast present-
day judgement upon the Hebrew people and God himself, consider the
alternative. Life was so incredibly difficult for men and women in the
ancient world that slavery, believe it or not, was often of greater benefit
to the slave than to the master. A slave connected to a Hebrew tribe at
least had food, shelter and protection. Therefore, ordinances given by
God were a guarantee, of sorts, of basic human rights. Keep in mind that
slavery at the time of Moses was more akin to indentured servitude, not
the harsh slavery known by the African man brought to the Americas in
the 17th and 18th centuries.

These passages offer an opportunity for reflection. The way in which

man interacts with man is of importance to God. Jesus Christ called

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 you to “love the Lord your God with all your heart…and your neighbor
as yourself” (Mark 12:30-31). The precept is basic, but do we observe
this ordinance in our lives, day after day? Do we treat our wives with
tenderness and respect? Are we attentive to the needs of our sons and
daughters? Do we honor our fathers and mothers, especially in old age?
Do we conduct ourselves as gentlemen in the office, in the driver’s seat of
a car, or in competitive sports? Are we docile to our teachers and pastors?
Do we take responsibility for the people around us, in our neighborhood
or town? And finally, are we actively supporting our brothers of our
Exodus fraternity; do our brothers feel confident that they can rely upon
you for support?

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 DAY FIFTY

VIOLENCE IS SELDOM A GOOD ANSWER

Exodus 21:12-32: “Whoever kills a man with intent to kill, must pay
for it with his life. But where there was no malice aforethought,
and God provides the occasion, he shall be allowed to find
refuge in such place as I shall appoint for thee. One who lies in
wait on purpose to kill his neighbour shall be torn away even
from my altar to die. Death is the penalty for one who kills his
father or his mother; death is the penalty when a man is shewn
to have carried off his fellow-man and sold him; death is the
penalty for one who curses father or mother. Two fall out, and
one is struck with a stone, or with the fist, not fatally, but so
that he must take to his bed; must the man who struck the blow
be held guilty? Only till the other is well enough to get up and
walk abroad with a stick; but he must compensate him for his
loss of work, and for the doctor’s charges. When a man beats

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 his servant or his handmaid to death, if death follows at once,
he must pay the full penalty; but if they survive for a day or
more, he shall go unpunished; the loss is his. If men fall out, and
one of them strikes a woman who is pregnant, so that the child
is still-born, but she herself lives, he must pay whatever sum
the woman’s husband demands, and the judges agree to; if her
death follows, then life must pay for life.

So it is to be; an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a

hand, a foot for a foot; burning for burning, wound for wound,
bruise for bruise. If anyone gives servant or handmaid a blow
on the eye, so that the sight of it is lost, he must set them free
in return for the sight he robbed them of; or if he knocks out
a tooth, he must let servant or handmaid go free by the same
title. If an ox gores a man or woman to death, it shall be stoned,
and the flesh of it is not to be eaten. But the owner of the ox
shall be held innocent, unless the ox has been using its horns
for some time past, and he has refused to shut it away when
appeal was made to him. Then, if the ox gores man or woman,
it shall be stoned, and he too shall be put to death, unless a fine
is imposed on him instead; if so, he shall pay whatever ransom
is demanded for his life. The parents shall have the same claim
upon him, whether it be a son or daughter of theirs the ox has
gored; if it has attacked man-servant or woman-servant, the
owner must pay thirty silver pieces, and the ox must be stoned."

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 day 50 meditation

O ver the centuries these passages, infamous as they are, have been
used to justify violent retaliation. Nothing could be further from
the truth of these Scriptures. Rather than escalating violence, these
passages are intended to reduce or prevent violence. The passage should
not be read from the victim’s point of view, but rather as a warning to
the aggressor. “You shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth,
hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe
for stripe” is not intended to give permission to one who would had
been harmed by another, but as a consequence for the aggressor to
consider. Likewise, it was a warning to the victim, limiting the amount
of “payback” that could be given. In this way, the passage can be seen as
a precursor to the more clear teaching of Jesus who speaks more directly
to the victim: “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a
tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist one who is evil. But if
anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and
if anyone would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as
well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles”
(Matthew 5:38). Violence is seldom a good answer.

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ACTION LIST

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 WEEK EIGHT:
ACTION LIST

1) Still, so far to go… but you and your brothers are

well on your way. Perhaps the disciplines will be easier now,
even if at times they are more challenging. Much will be lost
if you are not attentive to the voice of Our Lord. You are even
more disposed of all that would prevent you from hearing his
voice. Lean your ear and your heart toward him and let him
lead you in his way.

2) A very significant theology of the Catholic Church,

handed down from the time of Christ, is the vocation of the
victim soul. As Isaiah spoke of Christ, “…he was wounded for
our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him
was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes
we are healed” (53:5), so the Christian, imitating Christ, can
also suffer for “another”. The Church is a communion of
people and Our Lord has seen fit to accept the freely offered
suffering of one, for the good of another. Hence, as you
progress through these days, be sure to offer your suffering and
self-denial for the good of those whom you love. The reward
will be great.

3) As the days go by, remind yourself and your

brothers, continually if you must, that the goal of Exodus
is FREEDOM. We should never lose sight of this objective;
when the temptation comes to quit, keep your focus more
intently upon the freedom that you seek and that will be
given to you should you persevere. Peace to you!

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 DAY FIFTY-ONE

TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR ONESELF

Exodus 21:33-22:6: “If a man who has opened an old well, or is

digging a new one, does not cover it up, and ox or ass falls into
it, the owner of the well shall pay the full value of the beasts;
the carcase he may keep for himself. If one man’s ox is wounded
by another’s, and dies of it, they shall sell the live ox and share
the price of it, dividing the carcase of the dead ox between
them; unless it has been known for some time past that the
live ox was using its horns, and the owner has not kept it under
control. If so, he shall restore ox for ox, and keep the whole
carcase for himself.

The man who steals ox or sheep and slaughters or sells it, must
make restitution at the rate of five oxen for one, and four sheep
for one. When a thief is caught breaking into a house, or digging

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 under the walls of it, the man who deals him a fatal wound is
not guilty of murder, unless the deed was done after sun-rise.
If the sun be risen, there is murder done, and life must pay
for life. The thief who has no money to make restitution with,
must himself be sold as a slave. If something stolen, ox or ass
or sheep, is found alive in the possession of the thief, he shall
make restitution twofold. If anyone damages field or vineyard
by letting some beast of his feed on another man’s property, he
must make good the estimated loss out of the best crop in his
own field or vineyard. If a fire breaks out and catches among
thorn-bushes, setting light to heaps of grain or to corn standing
in the fields, the man who lit the fire must make good the loss."

day 51 meditation

I t would be easy for us to shrug our shoulders at these passages and

think to ourselves, “Uh, um, what could this possibly have to do
with me?” Perhaps a more focused look is necessary. Two important
points: 1) These passages limit the amount of compensation due to
a person who suffered a loss of some sort. In other words, a person
who incurred damages could not demand unjust remuneration. 2)
The liable party was required to make just compensation to a party he
had harmed. Justice is defined as “giving a man his due”. The take-
away for a man in the 21st century is the same: If we have harmed or
hurt another person in some way, justice demands that we address the
grievance fairly and justly.

Doubtful that any man engaged in Exodus is so callous as not to be

attentive to others. Yet, because of the busy and chaotic nature of our

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 lives, we very well may have harmed a person (even spouses, children,
or parishioners) and have yet to reconcile with them. The men of
Exodus are engaged in spiritual warfare; combat with a crafty and
deceitful enemy that has the power to destroy us if we are not attentive.
We should desire to reconcile with those whom we have harmed on
principle alone, and many will. But if not for principle, then we ought
to consider the vulnerable position our anger and stubbornness place us
in when we refuse to reconcile. Peace will forever flee those who have
injured (or been injured) and refuse to reconcile.

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ACTION LIST

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 DAY FIFTY-TWO

PERSEVERANCE NECESSITATES BROTHERHOOD

Exodus 22:7-23:9: “Where money or goods entrusted to a friend’s

keeping have been stolen, the thief, if he is found, must make
twofold restitution. If he cannot be found, the owner of the
house where they lay in keeping shall be brought before the
judgement-seat. He must swear that he laid no hands on his
neighbour’s property with malicious intent. Be there a loss of
ox or ass or sheep or clothing or any other kind of property,
the two parties shall come before the judgement-seat, and the
defendant, if he is found guilty, shall make twofold restitution.
If a man entrusts his neighbour with ass or ox or sheep or any
other beast for safe keeping, and it is killed or wounded or
carried off by enemies, with no witness to the fact, the matter
shall be settled by an oath, which the owner shall accept,
that the other did not lay hands on his property; there is no

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 restitution to be made. But where the loss is due to theft, the
owner shall be compensated. If it has been killed by a wild
beast, the carcase must be brought before the owner, and no
amends made. Where a man has borrowed any such beast of
his neighbour, and it is maimed or killed in the owner’s absence,
compensation must be made to him; but not if the owner
himself was present, and especially if hire was being paid for the
work the beast did. One who seduces a virgin not yet betrothed,
and beds with her, must give her a dowry and marry her, unless
the father will not give her in marriage; then amends must
be made, equivalent to the dowry which a virgin customarily
receives. Sorcerers must not be allowed to live. The man who
is guilty of bestiality must pay for it with his life. Sacrifice is for
the Lord alone; he who offers it to other gods must be put to
death. There must be no harrying or oppression of the aliens
that dwell among you; time was when you too dwelt as aliens
in the land of Egypt. You must not wrong the widow and the
orphan; wronged, they will cry out to me for redress, and their
cry will be heard. My anger will blaze out against you, and I will
smite you with the sword, making widows of your own wives,
orphans of your own children. If thou dost lend money to some
poorer neighbour among my people, thou shalt not drive him
hard as extortioners do, or burden him with usury. If thou takest
thy neighbour’s garment for a pledge, thou shalt give it back to
him by set of sun; it is all he has to cover himself with, his body’s
protection, all he has to sleep under. He has but to cry for
redress, and I, the ever merciful, will listen to him. Thou shalt not
revile the powers above thee, or speak ill of him who rules thy
people. There must be no delay in paying tithes and first-fruits.

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 Thou shalt make me an offering of the first son that is born to
thee, and with thy oxen and sheep thou shalt do the like; for
seven days the dam may keep her first-born, after that it must
be offered to me. You are to be men marked out for my service.
Meat that has once been tasted by wild beasts shall not be used
for food; it must be thrown to the dogs.”

Never must thou take up a false cry, or join hands with the
guilty by giving false witness in their favour. Never must thou
follow with the crowd in doing wrong, or be swayed by many
voices so as to give false judgement; even pity for the poor
must not sway thee when judgement is to be given. If thou hast
an enemy, and findest his ox or his ass going astray, take it back
to him. Here is one that hates thee, and his ass has fallen under
its burden; do not pass by, help him to lift it up. Do not give
false judgement when the cause of the poor is tried. Keep clear
of untruth. Do not bring death on an innocent man that has
justice on his side; I give no countenance to the wrong-doer.
Beware of accepting bribes; they blind even the prudent, and
disturb the judgement even of just men. Do not oppress the
alien; you know what it is to be an alien, since you yourselves
were exiles in the land of Egypt."

day 52 meditation

I t is easy to get lost in the many laws and scenarios that are described
in this section of the Book of Exodus. As we read about these laws,
we try to imagine ourselves in the scenarios and we can get caught
up in the “do this” and “do not do that” mechanics. Thus, we cannot

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 conceive how they can be applied to our lives. However, this is exactly
what the Evil One wants us to do. We must constantly keep in the
forefront of our mind why we are on this Exodus journey and never
lose the forest for the trees. This section of Scripture is an example of
the Israelites losing sight of God’s promise to lead them to the freedom
of the Promised Land. The Hebrew men have lost sight and are now
focused on the scrupulosity of the struggle that they must endure.
These scruples have blinded them from the reality of God’s promise. At
this point in the journey of Exodus, it is very easy for us to fall into this
same temptation. We must never forget why we have begun the journey
and the freedom that God has promised us. We can find ourselves
struggling with the discipline and focused only on what we have to
accomplish, not to mention the temptation to give up the discipline or
at least to let portions of the program slide by the wayside. Let us focus,
once again, on the meaning of Exodus and allow the brotherhood in
which we are engaged to be a constant reminder that we are on this
journey because we want to love God in a more perfect way. We want
God to break open our hearts so that we no longer focus on our own
struggles but rather on the struggle of our brothers - and the support
we can offer them. We are over halfway through this journey and must
never forget that God loves us and wants to enable us to love others
with the same fatherly love that He has for us!

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ACTION LIST

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 DAY FIFTY-THREE

MAN IS MEANT FOR GOD

Exodus 23:10-19: “For six years together thou mayst sow thy land,
and gather the crop from it; in the seventh year leave it alone,
to lie fallow, and give thy poorer neighbours food; all that is
left, the wild beasts may eat. And thou shalt do the like with
thy vineyard and thy oliveyard. For six days together thou shalt
do the tasks thou hast to do, and on the seventh leave off
working; so shall ox and ass of thine have rest, home-born slave
and alien that works for thee revive their spirits. Observe all
these commandments of mine, and never take an oath by the
names of alien gods, or let such names be heard on your lips.
Thrice a year keep holiday in my honour. There is the feast of
unleavened bread to be observed; for seven days, in the first
month of spring, the month of thy rescue from Egypt, thou shalt
eat unleavened bread in obedience to my command. Then thou
shalt present thyself before me with gifts. And there is the feast
of harvest, when the fields thou hast sown reward thy labour
with first-fruits; and another feast at the end of the year, when

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 the last of thy crops has been gathered in. Thrice, then, in the
year all thy men folk must present themselves before the Lord
thy God. When thou offerest living things in sacrifice to me, the
bread that goes with them shall not be leavened, nor shalt thou
leave the fat of my victims unconsumed till the morrow. The
first-fruits of thy land must be brought to the house of the Lord
thy God. Seething a kid in its dam’s milk is a rite forbidden thee."

day 53 meditation

T he meaning of so many of these obscure or unintelligible laws in

this section of the Book of Exodus serve only to confuse modern
man. But all of them, read back to review, are designed to keep us
human. This is an innovative idea for the modern era. Pope John Paul
II gave us a similar schemata to assist us in our struggle to remain
human and avoid being crushed in the machine man has created. The
Pontiff believed that if these principles were held, then the work to
liberate people would succeed: 1) Ethics over technology; 2) Priority
of persons over things; 3) Spirit over matter. The personal examination
will be left to you. However, one can see in the Old Testament reading
and in the more contemporary ethic of the Holy Father a need to
preserve the dignity and wholeness of the human person. Man was
made to be a part of a community with certain rights and certain
responsibilities. He was not made to be crushed by an impersonal
system, business, or circumstance. Rather, man was made for love.
Ultimately, man was made for God and for his love. Every man’s
destiny is to dwell with God for all eternity; in fact, he was created to
be God’s glory. A praxis like that given by Moses ensures that man will
rest when necessary and recall that he is not meant to be a beast, but a
Son of God.

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 DAY FIFTY-FOUR

JESUS THE CHRIST

Exodus 23:20-33: “And now I am sending my angel to go before

thee and guard thee on thy way, and lead thee to the place I
have made ready for thee. Give him good heed, and listen to his
bidding; think not to treat him with neglect. He will not overlook
thy faults, and in him dwells the power of my name. If thou wilt
listen to his warnings, and do all I bid thee, then thy enemies
shall find an enemy in me, and those who shew thee no mercy
shall find me merciless. So this angel of mine will go on before
thee, leading thee on into the land of Amorrhite and Hethite,
Pherezite and Chanaanite, Hevite and Jebusite; and all these I
will destroy. Do not bow down to their gods and worship them,
or follow their customs; sweep them away, and break down their
monuments. All your loyalty must be for the Lord your God. So
I will enrich thee with the bread and the water thou needest,

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 and keep sickness far away from thy company; there shall be no
unfruitfulness in thy land, no barrenness; and I will grant thee a
full span of days. I mean to make the fear of me go in front of
thee, bringing destruction upon the whole people thou goest to
meet; all thy enemies shall turn their backs before thee. I will send
in hornets first, to make cowards of Hevite and Chanaanite and
Hethite before ever thou goest in. Only I will not drive them out
before thee all in one year; that would make a wilderness of the
land, and the wild beasts in it would multiply, to thy harm. I will
make them yield little by little before thy onset, so that thou wilt
have time to increase, and populate the land. The frontiers I give
thee are the Red Sea and the sea of the Philistines, the desert
and the river Euphrates. All the inhabitants of the land shall be at
your mercy, and I will drive them out before you. Thou shalt make
no treaty with them, nor with their gods. They must not share thy
territory, or they would persuade thee to commit sin against me,
by worshipping their gods; no doubt of it, they will ensnare thee."

day 54 meditation

T ired of gentle Jesus? Tired of the nonconsequential Jesus of the

Christian faith? Tired of wasting your time listening to harmless
homilies and a teaching that resembles a politically correct fairy tale?
See before you the original Jesus Christ! In the passage from Exodus
today, Moses talks of an “angel” sent to “guard you on the way and
bring you to the place which I have prepared.” But Moses was not
talking about a spirit, he was talking about Joshua who would receive
the authority of Moses and finish the 40 year journey to the Promised
Land. What is that to us? Everything. The Angel’s name was Joshua,

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 a version of the Holy Name of Jesus. Joshua is an Old Testament
figure of the New Testament, Jesus. A figure is a foreshadowing or a
premonition of what is to come. One could say that Joshua is a living
prophecy or a type of the Jesus who is to come. Now, with that in
mind, re-read the passage from Exodus. As you do, keep in mind that
the enemies of the Hebrews serve as a type or foreshadowing of the
enemies to come: the devil and sin.

T hus will Jesus Christ “utterly overthrow them and break their
pillars in pieces,” he will destroy our enemies: the Evil One, sin,
death. Jesus will say to us, “I will be an enemy to your enemies and an
adversary to your adversaries!” Who could not use a friend like that?
Rediscover him. Welcome him. “Give heed to him and hearken to his
voice, do not rebel against him… for my name is in him.”

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 DAY FIFTY-FIVE

SEE GOD AND LIVE!

Exodus 24:1-11: “Then Moses was told, Do thou and Aaron and
Nadab and Abiu, with seventy elders of Israel, come up to meet
the Lord, and worship from afar. Only Moses must enter the
Lord’s presence, the rest are not to draw near, and none of the
people are to come up with him. So Moses went and told the
people all the Lord had said, all the commands he had given;
and the whole people answered with one voice, We will do all
that the Lord has bidden us. Then Moses committed everything
the Lord had said to writing; and when he rose next morning,
he built an altar close to the spurs of the mountain, and twelve
memorial stones answering to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he
directed some of the younger Israelites to make burnt-sacrifice
there and bring welcome-offerings to the Lord, with bullocks for
their victims. After this Moses took half of the blood, and set it

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 aside in bowls; the other half he poured out on the altar. Then
he took up the book in which the covenant was inscribed, and
read it aloud to the people. We will do all the Lord has bidden us,
said they; we promise obedience; and Moses took the blood and
sprinkled it over the people, crying out, Here is the blood of the
covenant which the Lord makes with you, in accordance with all
these words of his. Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abiu, and
seventy of the elders of Israel went up the mountain, and had a
vision of the God of Israel, with a pavement about his feet that
might have been made of sapphire, bright as the fashioning of the
heavens. There they stood, far removed from the rest of Israel,
and the hand of the Lord never smote them down; they had sight
of him, and lived to eat and drink like mortal men."

day 55 meditation

B efore we begin, see the humor of this compelling story. Can

anyone imagine attending Mass in the contemporary world,
sacrificing an animal, and sprinkling the animal’s blood on the
people? Imagine the outrage that would ensue. Yet, that is exactly as
it happened. The power of this cultic act is almost breathtaking. The
blood marked the covenant between God and his chosen people. The
sprinkled blood on the altar represents sprinkled blood upon God. In
essence, the act confirms that both parties have entered into a covenant
(an exchange of parties) that is to be considered permanent and
unbreakable. If either party should violate the terms of the covenant,
then it is understood that the dissenting party would suffer the same
fate of the sacrificed animal. God is not fooling around. The Covenant
is real and dependable.

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 The scene also foreshadows, once again, the New Covenant era when
the Mass would be celebrated on the altar and the blood poured out
would not be the blood of an animal sacrifice, but the blood of Jesus
Christ in Holy Communion. See the great reverence with which the
elders approach the altar and the presence of God. In the ancient
world, nobody looked upon the face of God and lived, and the people
knew it. God was simply too holy, thrice holy (holy, holy, holy)
actually, to be in the presence of unredeemed people. This is the origin
of the sacredness of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Modern teachers
have belittled the sacredness observed in the Mass prior to the 1960s.
The Sacred Banquet laid out before the elders in this passage is the
prefiguring of the Sacred Mass. But Mass today has become a picnic or
a circus. We must re-learn the concept of the Sacred. How should one
conduct himself before the presence of Almighty God? Give thought
to the reality that God hides his Divinity and his humanity “under the
appearance of bread and wine.” It is essential for us that he hide himself
in such a way. Even today, if we were to approach the Divine without
being purified and properly prepared and “look upon him,” would we
not suffer the same fate as the Hebrews of Old. What a privilege we
have been given to receive God in Holy Communion. Consider the
weighty truth of the Eucharist!

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ACTION LIST

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 DAY FIFTY-SIX

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES

Exodus 24:12-18: “And the Lord said to Moses, Come up to the

mountain and abide with me there; I have still to give thee
tablets of stone on which I have written down the law and the
commandments thou art to teach them. At that, Moses rose up,
and his servant Josue with him; and Moses, as he began climbing
God’s mountain, said to the elders, Wait here till we come back to
you. You have Aaron and Hur with you; to them refer all matters
of dispute. When Moses had gone, the mountain was veiled in
cloud; for six days the glory of the Lord abode there on Sinai,
wrapping it in cloud, and on the seventh day, from the heart of
that darkness, the Lord called to him. To the Israelites, as they
looked upon it, this glory of the Lord wore the semblance of a fire,
burning there on the summit of the mountain. So Moses climbed
higher up the mountain, into the heart of the cloud; for forty days
and forty nights the mountain was his home."

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 day 56 meditation

O nce again let us ask ourselves why it is that we are here

journeying through this program of Exodus. What is the reason
we even considered it in the first place. Is it for selfish reasons? Is it
because we like a good challenge? Is it for our own pride? If so, you
should stop this program immediately. We are here to grow closer to
God. We are here to love Him who is love itself in a more perfect way.
We are here to enter into closer communion with God through the
purgation of our sinful habits. We are here striving for freedom and
spiritual perfection so that God may say to us, “Come up to me on the
mountain”. That is the reason of our existence, let alone this 90 day
journey. So at this time take a few minutes to examine the past 8 weeks
of Exodus and look at all the good things God has already done inside
of you. In response to this passage, St. John Chrysostom says, “Look in
turn at the instances of good behavior due to fasting. The great Moses,
after keeping his fast for forty days, was able to receive the tablets
of the law.” So let us look at the good things God has done in us as
encouragement to continue to strive for the freedom we desire. So that
at the end of this journey we may be able to govern our minds, bodies,
and souls with the law God gives in order to set us free.

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ACTION LIST

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 DAY FIFTY-SEVEN

MAKE A SACRIFICE OF YOURSELF

Exodus 25:1-9: “And now the Lord gave Moses this message, Bid
the Israelites bring me gifts in kind, each man offering what
his heart prompts him to offer, for your acceptance. And these
are the gifts you will declare to be acceptable, gold, silver and
bronze; threads of blue and purple and scarlet twice-dyed, and
lawn, and goats’ hair, and rams’ fleeces dyed red, and skins
dyed violet; acacia wood, and oil to feed lamps, spices for the
anointing-oil, and sweet-smelling incense; onyx-stones, too, and
jewels, to be set in the priestly mantle and burse. I mean them
to build me a sanctuary, so that I can dwell among them; this
tabernacle-dwelling itself and the appurtenances to be used in it
must be of the pattern which I will now shew thee. Listen, then,
to the fashion of it."

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 day 57 meditation

Y ou may be thinking to yourself how fortunate that we do not have

to make the sacrifice asked by God in today’s Exodus reading:
“gold, silver, and bronze, blue and purple and scarlet stuff and fine
twined linen, goats’ hair, tanned rams’ skins, goatskins…” Then
again… we are asked to make sacrifice, as you have often heard, of
time, talent, and treasure for the support of the work of the Church.
But even more, Christian men are asked to give more deeply. “I urge
you therefore, brothers,” St. Paul commanded, “by the mercies of God,
to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God,
your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1). The past 57 days makes your
sacrifice all the more efficacious now that you have been purified and
prepared! God asks more of us than ever, not only material goods, but
our very selves!

This is explained beautifully in the Catechism of the Catholic Church

in a passage seldom proclaimed, but altogether relevant to us: “The
Eucharist is also the sacrifice of the Church. The Church which is the
Body of Christ participates in the offering of her Head. With him, she
herself is offered whole and entire. She unites herself to his intercession
with the Father for all men. In the Eucharist, the sacrifice of Christ
becomes also the sacrifice of the members of his Body. The lives of the
faithful, their praise, sufferings, prayer, and work, are united with those
of Christ and with his total offering, and so acquire a new value. Christ’s
sacrifice present on the altar makes it possible for all generations of
Christians to be united with his offering” (1368).

REVIEW WEEK NINE'S

ACTION LIST

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 WEEK NINE:
ACTION LIST

1) The Exodus journey continues for you and your

brothers. This week, examine your life to ensure you are
not complaining, irritable, short with others, or falling
into negativity, all of which is so easy to do as the days of
purification continue.

2) Another important examination: are you

overconfident? With all the work you have accomplished,
your life ought to be changing. By now, you should be
enjoying a greater amount of freedom. You may even be
experiencing a good amount of joy in all your success. All
good. But do not be too overconfident, relying on yourself as
the source of your success. Always keep in mind, “God grants
deliverance.”

3) Prayer continues to be important. Enter into the

silence of your time of prayer. It has been said, silence is God
speaking to you. Listen to him and discover what he wants
to reveal to you!

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 DAY FIFTY-EIGHT

NOT ‘WHAT’, BUT ‘WHO’ IS

THE ARK OF THE COVENANT?

Exodus 25:10-22: “Make me an ark of acacia wood, two and a half

cubits long, with a breadth and height of one and a half cubits.
Give it a covering and a lining of pure gold, and put a coping
of gold all round the top of it; a ring of gold, too, at each of the
four corners, two on either of the flanks. Then make poles of
acacia wood, gilded over, and pass them through the rings on
the sides of the ark, so as to carry it; these poles are to remain
in the rings, never taken out. In this ark thou wilt enshrine the
written law I mean to give thee. Make a throne, too, of pure
gold, two and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits broad,
and two cherubs of pure beaten gold for the two ends of
this throne, one to stand on either side of it; with their wings
outspread to cover the throne, guardians of the shrine. They
are to face one another across the throne. And this throne is to

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 be the covering of the ark, and the ark’s contents, the written
law I mean to give thee. Thence will I issue my commands; from
that throne of mercy, between the two cherubs that stand over
the ark and its records, my voice shall come to thee, whenever I
send word through thee to the sons of Israel."

day 58 meditation

W e come to the building of the Ark of the Covenant, the

singular most sacred religious article possessed by the Hebrews
people. The Ark of the Covenant was an elaborate box made of Acacia
wood and plated with gold in which sacred items were preserved.
The Letter to the Hebrews indicated that, “Behind the second veil
was the tabernacle called the Holy of Holies… In it were the gold jar
containing the manna, the staff of Aaron, and the tablets of the covenant”
(9:3-4). What follows will delight any Catholic reader. As we have
seen so often, many people, places or things of the Old Testament
“prefigured” or “foreshadowed” the New Testament. The ark is no
exception. But rather than ask, “What is the Ark of the Covenant?” let
us look at “Who is the Ark of the Covenant!”

The Ark of the Covenant is a premonition of the Blessed Virgin

Mary! The Virgin Mother was without sin, while the ark was made
of “incorruptible” acacia wood. The Virgin Mother was preserved by
God for his divine purpose, while the ark was plated in gold, a symbol
of divinity. The Virgin Mother carried Jesus, the Incarnate Word, in
her womb, while the ark carried the staff of Aaron (a symbol of the
priesthood and Christ who is the High Priest), and sample of the
manna (a symbol of the Eucharist, “…the true Bread come down from
Heaven)”, and the tablets of the covenant or the Ten Commandments

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 or the Word of God (Jesus is the Word of God). Thus, as the Ark of the
Covenant carried symbols of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mother carried
the child Jesus safely in her womb. (There is more Scripture to support
this idea, but enough for now.)

But there is more: Whenever the Hebrew Army went into battle
following the Ark of the Covenant, with few exceptions, the battle
was won. That is a great consolation of tremendous consequence to
us. If the Hebrews followed the Ark of the Covenant into battle, the
Christian follows the Blessed Virgin Mary into battle! After many years
assisting men with chastity we have found that a man who prays the
Rosary every day, is much more likely to achieve chastity than one who
does not. As you progress through Exodus, your relationship with the
Virgin Mother ought to be growing and reaching new depth. What a
gift God has given his sons in the Virgin Mother!

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 DAY FIFTY-NINE

THE BREAD OF PRESENCE AND THE TRUE PRESENCE

Exodus 25:23-30: “Make a table, too, of acacia wood, two cubits long,
a cubit broad, and a cubit and a half in height; gild it with pure gold,
and make a rim of gold about its edge, with an embossed coping
four inches high, and a second coping of gold over that. Make four
rings of gold, and fix them to the four corners of the table, one by
each leg of it. The rings must be below the coping, to let poles pass
through, that will carry the table; these poles too thou shalt make
of acacia wood, and gild them over; so the table shall be carried.
So with the cups, too, and the bowls, and the dishes, and the
goblets for pouring out libations; all of them must be of pure gold.
The table is to hold the loaves of bread which are to be set out
continually in my presence."

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 day 59 meditation

T he priests of the Temple were to place twelve loaves of bread in

two rows atop this sacred table as well as the golden vessels used
for sacrificial libations, all in order that the bread of Presence may be
“before me always.” No doubt, this arrangement is indicative of the
bread and wine which would, one day, be used in the Holy Sacrifice of
the Mass. Is it possible, then, that God desired this bread of Presence
to be present to him as he, himself, was patiently anticipating his
divine presence in the Most Holy Eucharist? And, if so, should we
not also gaze upon the Divine Presence under the appearance of bread
and worship him accordingly? We have that privilege in Eucharistic
Adoration, when the consecrated host is displayed prominently upon
the altar in a monstrance for the faithful to worship the “Presence
on the table [that is] before them always.” Eucharistic Adoration
has been a devotion in the Church for many centuries. Miraculous
things happen as a result of this devotion and prayer before the
Blessed Sacrament. Perhaps, as long as your parish (or one nearby) has
Adoration, it can be an opportunity for your Exodus team to praise
and worship the King of the Universe hidden under the appearance of
bread and wine.

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 DAY SIXTY

GOD IS PRESENT TO THE WORLD HE CREATED

Exodus 25:31-40: “Make a lamp-stand, too, of pure beaten gold,

stem and branches, cups and bosses, and fleurs-de-lis that spring
from them. Six branches are to come out of the stem, three on
each side; and on each branch there are to be three cups shaped
like almond-flowers, then a boss, then a fleur-de-lis, balanced by
three cups and a boss and a fleur-de-lis on the opposite branch;
such is to be the fashion of all the six branches that come out
of the stem. But the stem itself is to have four cups, shaped like
almond-flowers, each with its boss and its fleur-de-lis; there will
be six branches altogether coming out of a single stem, and under
each pair of them there will be an additional boss. The bosses
and the branches must be of a piece with the main stem, and all
alike must be of pure beaten gold. Make seven lamps, too, and
mount them on the lamp-stand, so as to throw their light on the

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 opposite wall. Even the snuffers, and the trays for the burnt wick,
must be made of pure gold. The whole weight of the lamp-stand,
together with its appurtenances, must be a talent of pure gold.
Look well, and make everything in due accord with the pattern
which has been shewn to thee on the mountain."

day 60 meditation

K ey to interpreting this text is verse 40, “And see that you make
them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the
mountain.” To describe in great detail the layout of the Great Sanctuary
of God and his golden lampstand was no easy feat. Moses was, more
than likely, completely overwhelmed by the task. That is why, in verse
40 just read, God tells Moses to “see” and to pattern the sanctuary
after the vision of the Heavenly Sanctuary he had experienced on the
holy mountain. Obviously, the most prominent artifact in this passage
is the golden lampstand. It was to be ornate, decorated with all that
is found in nature: buds, flowers, almonds and an almond tree. God
intentionally directs his earthly sanctuary to look and feel like the
universe in which we live.

Thus, the sanctuary becomes a model or microcosm of the universe

and the heavenly vision is the “blueprint”. Eventually, the sanctuary
would be the model upon which the Great Temple of Solomon would
be built. Again, the Temple itself would be a map or a model of the
universe. This is important, as the golden lampstand was to support
seven lights. Seven is the number of fullness, not, as most believe, the
number of perfection. Therefore, if the lampstand provided the fullness
of light in the world, it can only be the presence of God’s Spirit – the
spirit of light. The seven lights, then, represent God’s presence and

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 attentiveness in the sanctuary, and ultimately, his presence and care for
the universe, and eventually for his Church.
Passages as those above remind us of the goodness of the world that
God created. Men have, for millennia, encountered God in nature and
the natural world. As you hike, when you are out for a run, fishing your
favorite lake, sitting around a campfire, gardening or farming, or even
driving to work, be attentive to the natural world around you. Notice
a sunrise, an approaching storm, a gentle wind, the changing seasons,
wildlife, a meandering river, a magnificent tree… and call to mind the
grandeur and mystery of God. Recall his presence to all he has created,
most especially those whom we love. St. Augustine urged us, if we want
a book about God, to read the natural world. There is much around us
for which we must give God praise and glory!

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 DAY SIXTY-ONE

UNITY

Exodus 26:1-14: “And this is how the tabernacle is to be fashioned.

Make ten curtains of twisted linen thread, worked in threads
of blue and purple and scarlet twice-dyed, with all the
embroiderer’s art. All the curtains are to be of the same size,
twenty-eight cubits in length and four in width. Five of these
must be joined to each other, and then the remaining five in
the same way; the sides, the extreme edges of the curtains
must be fitted with loops of blue cord, to fasten one to the
next, fifty loops at the edge of either set of curtains, so let in
that loop meets loop and can be fastened to it. Then make
fifty gold clasps, and join the two widths of curtain together,
to make a single tent of them. Next, make eleven coverings
of goats’ hair, to protect the tapestry over the tabernacle. The
measurements of all these coverings are to be the same; each

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 will be thirty cubits long and four cubits wide. Join together first
five of the coverings, then the other six; the sixth of these is
to hang double over the front of the tapestry. Make fifty loops
at the edge of the first set of coverings, then fifty at the edge
of the other, to join them together, and fifty brazen clasps, to
hold these loops together, so that the whole may form a single
protecting roof. Since there is one more of these coverings than
is needed for the protection of the tapestry, fold it double and
use it to protect the back of the tabernacle. The coverings are
a cubit longer on the north and south than the tapestry, and
this additional cubit will hang down, to protect the tabernacle
itself on either side. Then make another canopy over the roof, of
rams’ fleeces dyed red, and yet another, of skins dyed violet."

day 61 meditation

T hus, God directs the construction of a portable and elaborate

tent which would serve to house the Ark of the Covenant and all
that was necessary for cultic worship. In verse 6 we are told the tent,
although made from several curtains and coverings, would be coupled
together in such a way that it “may be one whole.” This is a clear
indication or sign that the universe is held together in the same manner
and is, always and forever, marked by a profound unity.

Unity is an idea of great concern to the heart of our Divine Savior.

Shortly before his Passion, Our Lord fervently prayed, “And now I
am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming
to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name, which thou hast given
me, that they may be one, even as we are one” (John 17:11). Unity

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 is so important to a Christian, that Jesus left us the Supreme Pontiff
and a Church through whom all the Christian world is to be united.
Historically, when our Orthodox or Protestant brothers or sisters left
the Church, they splintered into countless sects and divisions. This is a
lesson from which we must learn.

This provides an excellent meditation for us as Catholic men. Never

should we be the source of disunity or discord in the Church. For
unity’s sake, we pledge ourselves to all that the Catholic Church teaches
and believes to be true. In addition, we are to love God above all things
and our neighbor as ourselves. The truth that we believe tells us about
ourselves and how we are to live, and our unity should speak to the
truth of all that we believe. We live in a shattered world of factions
and parties, and Satan delights in our opposition to one another. The
tapestry of the curtains and coverings of the sanctuary were woven
together so tightly and expertly that they might withstand even the
most severe and dangerous storm. Our unity, even the unity you have
experienced with your Exodus brothers, ought to do the same!

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 DAY SIXTY-TWO

UNLESS THE LORD BUILDS THE HOUSE,

THOSE WHO BUILD IT LABOR IN VAIN

Exodus 26:15-30: “Then make upright frames of acacia wood to

support the tabernacle. Each must be ten cubits high, and a
cubit and a half wide; and at the sides of it, two tenon-pieces
must jut out, so that each frame can be mortised to the next; all
the frames are to be made in this manner. Twenty of these will
be on the south, facing the midday sun, with forty silver sockets,
two at the foot of each frame, close to the corners; and twenty
more on the opposite side, that looks northwards; these again
will have forty silver sockets, two at the foot of each frame. And
for the western end of the tabernacle there will be six frames,
and two in addition, which must be set up in the corners at the
extreme end of the tabernacle. All these will be joined together,
from bottom to top, with a single kind of fastening to hold
them all; the two frames which are to be set up in the corners

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 will be joined in the same way as the others. Thus there will
be eight frames in all, with sixteen silver sockets, two to each
frame. Then make five poles of acacia wood, to hold the frames
together on one side of the tabernacle, and five more to hold
it together on the other side, and the same number for the
western end; these will be passed right along the frames from
end to end. Gild the frames themselves, and furnish them with
gold rings, by which the poles can hold the frames together;
these poles, too, must be plated with gold. So must thou set
up the tabernacle, in conformity with the pattern that has been
shewn to thee on the mountain."

DAY 62 MEDITATION

U nless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in
vain” (Psalm 127:1). In today’s passage we see that God directs
every construction detail of the sanctuary in which he will dwell.
Every detail, even the frame and foundation for the Tent of Presence
is given by God to ensure the tent would remain firm and withstand
any outward hostility. He directs the construction of the foundation
and the frame what would support the elaborate coverings and house
the Ark of the Covenant. This was a house of God and had to be built
in accord with its purpose. Likewise for us as men! “Unless the Lord
builds the man, those who build will labor in vain!” Too often, a man
will attempt to build the man himself. He is duped to believe that all
his success and productivity rests entirely upon him alone and when
he is done, and has achieved greatness, he will present himself to his
Heavenly Father and proclaim, “This is what I have done and now I
offer it to you.” It is a lie! Unless the Lord builds the man! Does a father
sire his son and send him away that he might tend to himself? Is that

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 nearly what we do today? Again, it is a lie. A father raises his son paying
close attention to every detail of his life… directing him, encouraging
him, challenging him, supporting him and delighting in his growth
and stature. The very same can be said of us, for we receive all these
things from our Heavenly Father. We should consecrate ourselves to
him that he might build the man. Exodus is a phenomenal first step to
abandoning ourselves and our worthless pride in order that God might
direct the building of the man. To do so, we must, in prayer, be open to
him, and almost demand from him, as a son to a father, the direction
and counsel we need to be the man that he intended for us to be. Have
confidence in him. Rely upon him. He will build the man, we will not
labor in vain.

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 DAY SIXTY-THREE

THERE IS NO CURTAIN NOW

Exodus 26:31-37: “Make a veil, too, out of twisted linen thread,

worked in threads of blue and purple and scarlet twice-dyed,
with all the embroiderer’s art, and let it hang down from four
posts of acacia wood, gilded and with gilt capitals, but set in
silver sockets. This veil will be held up by rings. The ark is to be
set down behind it, and thus it will be a division between the
sanctuary and the inner sanctuary. The throne, too, which rests
above the ark and its records, will be in the inner sanctuary; on
the outer side of the veil, the table will stand on the north, and
the lamp-stand on the south side of the tabernacle, opposite
the table. Make a screen, too, out of twisted linen thread,
embroidered with threads of blue and purple and scarlet twice-
dyed, for the entrance of the tabernacle; it must hang from five
gilded posts of acacia wood, with gilt capitals and sockets of
bronze."

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 DAY 63 MEDITATION

I t was sin that separated man from the “most holy place”. It was sin
which separated man from the immediate presence of God. You are
correct to recall, that upon the death of the Divine Savior, that mournful
separation was dissolved. St. Matthew records at the moment Christ
died on the cross the words, “And behold, the curtain of the temple
was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and the
rocks were split…” (27:51). Due to the work of Jesus Christ who was
our redemption, the curtain which prevented us from unity with God,
was forever torn in two. Hebrews (Chapter 10) associated the veil with
Christ’s flesh and taught that by his flesh a new and living way was
“opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh.” At the
time of Moses, the veil separated the profane from the sacred. Rarely, very
rarely, did anyone pass through the curtain. With Jesus Christ, however,
everything changed. When the soldier approached Jesus to break his legs
on Golgotha, he saw that Jesus had already died and so thrust his spear
into the side of Jesus. Blood and water flowed forth. The spear, pierced
the flesh of Jesus -tore open the curtain- and made his Most Sacred Heart
accessible to all men. His Heart is a sacred font from which we draw the
grace of the waters of Baptism and the Blood of the Eucharist. You are
now allowed to approach him freely to quench your thirst and discover
that “all good things” come from him. Enter through the wound in his
side and access the love he so freely gives!

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 DAY SIXTY-FOUR

THE SACRIFICE GOD DESIRES

Exodus 27:1-8: “Make an altar, too, of acacia wood, with a surface

five cubits square, and a height of three cubits. It must have
horns at the corners, all of a piece with it, and it must be plated
with bronze. Provide it with ash-pans, tongs, forks, and braziers,
making all its appurtenances of bronze; and make a bronze
grating, of network, with bronze rings at its four corners, sunk
in the hearth of the altar; this grating must reach to half the
altar’s height. Then make two poles of acacia wood, plated with
bronze, which can be put through the rings on either side of the
altar, so as to carry it. The altar is not to be made solid, but to
have a hollow space within, after the manner shewn thee on the
mountain."

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 DAY 64 MEDITATION

A fter giving the prescriptions for the Tent and the Ark, God
teaches Moses how to build the altar of burnt offering. This was
the centerpiece of Jewish worship, much like the altars in our own
churches. The priests would offer sacrifices of lambs, goats and bulls
for the remission of sins. But we must not forget that these sacrifices
were imperfect and temporary. The Prophet Hosea said it best: “For
I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice the knowledge of God, rather
than burnt offerings” (Hos 6:6). God’s wayward children of Israel
were not capable of loving him fully, so he gave them a physical way
of expressing their steadfast love to him. By offering burnt offerings,
they gave the best of their flocks to the consuming fire as a reminder
of God’s authority and kingship. But with Christ, everything was set
aright. He became the holocaust, the perfect sacrifice. When we give up
the things that we love most, we are united to him in his self-gift. It can
be a temptation to take pride in our acts of sacrifice and penance, but
never forget that it is an expression of steadfast love for God. Pray that
your offering may be acceptable through the Blood of Christ, and you
will become like Him.

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 WEEK TEN:
ACTION LIST

1) Be sure to consider how asceticism has changed

you and your outlook as a Christian man. This
simplifying you have undertaken should have changed your
relationship with your wife and children or your girlfriend or
your parishioners or even your Exodus brothers. It may well
have informed the way you work, how you conduct yourself as
a Catholic, and certainly the manner in which you live.

2) Know that God loves you, not for what you do

(Exodus), so much as for who you are. He claims you
as his son. This should always be kept in mind. God loves
you as much today as he will tomorrow… in other words,
there is nothing you can do to make him love you more. You
can, however, foster the freedom that you now enjoy and be
assured that that freedom will allow you to love him more
purely.

3) You have come to the depth of Exodus. Be cognizant:

What has improved in your life? Think of those things that
seemed so important to you in the past that are not that
important to you now. This is progress!

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 DAY SIXTY-FIVE

THE CULT OF CASUAL

Exodus 27:9-28:1: “Make a court, too, round the tabernacle. At

the south side of this, towards the mid-day sun, there will be
hangings made of twisted linen thread, a hundred cubits long on
this side, and twenty posts, each with its socket made of bronze,
its engraved capital of silver. So, too, on the north side, hangings
a hundred feet long, twenty posts with bronze sockets and
engraved silver capitals. On the short side, westwards, the line of
hangings will be only fifty cubits long, and there will be only ten
posts in ten sockets. The side which looks eastward will also be
fifty cubits in length; of these, fifteen at one end will be protected
by a line of hangings fifteen cubits long, with three posts and as
many sockets, and there will be fifteen cubits’ length of hangings,
with three posts and as many sockets, at the other end too; in
between, at the gateway of the court, there will be hangings of

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 twisted linen thread, embroidered with threads of blue and purple
and scarlet twice-dyed, twenty cubits in length; these will have
four posts, and as many sockets. All the posts of the court must
be plated with silver, and have capitals of silver, and sockets of
bronze. Thus the court will occupy a space a hundred cubits long
and fifty wide, and the enclosure, of twisted linen thread with
bronze sockets underneath, will be five cubits in height. All the
appurtenances the tabernacle needs for its various purposes and
ceremonies, and all the pegs for making the enclosure and the
tabernacle itself fast, must be made of bronze. Bid the Israelites
supply thee with olive oil, pure as when the pestle brayed it, so
that there may be a lamp burning perpetually in the tabernacle
that bears record of me, before the veil that hides the place of
record. Aaron and his sons are to set it out there, so that it may
burn in the Lord’s presence till daybreak. This is a custom the
Israelites are to observe in every generation.

And now, that I may have priests to serve me among the sons
of Israel, summon thy brother Aaron, with his sons, Nadab, Abiu,
Eleazar and Ithamar, to thy presence."

DAY 65 MEDITATION

A ll of these prescriptions for the court hangings and priestly

vestments can teach us something about God: he cares about
the details. Most especially in the sacred liturgy, the details matter
because they express the holiness of God; he deserves the best of what
we have, art, ornamentation, music, because he is the best. You may

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 hear people question why we build beautiful churches, or why priests
wear expensive vestments and use gold chalices. Shouldn’t that money
be given to help the poor? I answer that the two are not mutually
exclusive. We love God by both serving the poor and giving glory to
God through the beautiful details. Doing only one would be shirking
our duty.

Personally, for us men, there is something we can do to get the details

right. We live in a society that embraces the cult of casual; that is, a
culture of mediocrity that despises any show of reverence or formality.
How can we wear a $500 suit to work every day and throw on jeans
and a polo for Sunday Mass? Exodus teaches us that God deserves
the best. I challenge you to start taking the details seriously; start by
dressing up for Mass if you don’t already and teach your family to do
the same. I guarantee that they will never forget it.

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 DAY SIXTY-SIX

THE MARK OF THE BEAST

Exodus 28:31-38: “The tunic that goes with the mantle is to be

made all of blue, and in the middle of it there is to be an
opening for the head, with a woven border round it, such as
is commonly put round the edges of garments, to prevent
tearing. Underneath, round the skirt of this tunic, thou shalt
hang ornaments of blue thread and purple, and of scarlet
twice-dyed, pomegranate-shaped, with bells between them;
a golden bell, then a pomegranate, then another golden bell,
then another pomegranate. In this Aaron shall ever be clothed
when he performs his priestly office; with the ringing of bells he
must announce his comings and goings in the sanctuary, there
in the Lord’s presence, on pain of death. And thou shalt make a
plate of pure gold, inscribed with all the engraver’s skill, with the
words, Set apart for the Lord. This is to be bound with a blue
cord on to the mitre, and will hang over the priest’s forehead.

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 Whatever fault is found in offering and gift, by Israel’s sons
dedicated and hallowed, Aaron must charge himself with it;
and the Lord will overlook it, so long as the plate hangs ever on
Aaron’s forehead."

day 66 meditation

A s God continues to vest his priest, he gives ample instruction as to

the turban to be worn by the priest. This passage describes Aaron’s
ordination rite. In verse 36, the Jews are directed to engrave .a signet
which reads 'Set apart for the Lord' and place it on Aaron’s forehead.
This is very significant as the words determine one's function and to
whom one belongs.

Much has been made of another mark that is placed on the hand or
forehead and frightens many people: the mark of the beast. The second
beast in the Book of Revelation, “…causes all, both small and great,
both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand
or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark,
that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name” (13:16-17).
As well as another alarming passage in Revelation of a “…woman
arrayed in purple and scarlet, and bedecked with gold and jewels and
pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and
the impurities of her fornication; and on her forehead was written a
name of mystery: ‘Babylon the great, mother of harlots and of earth’s
abominations’” (17:4). The beast is a symbol of the corrupt religious
establishment at the time of the apostles and the harlot represents
Jerusalem herself (again corrupt religious power). Note, she is often
thought to be the Catholic Church as Luther erroneously identifies her.
Much is made of this mysterious mark (too much to be discussed here),
but let it be understood that the mark of the beast is given to anyone

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 who rejects the salvation won for man by Jesus Christ. People who
belong to Christ are given another seal or mark: we read the ominous
passage, “Then I saw another angel… with the seal of the living God,
and he called with a loud voice to the four angels… saying, ‘Do not
harm the earth or the sea or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of
our God upon their foreheads’” (Revelation 7:2-4).

This “mark” or “sign” in Hebrew is the Tau: or a “T.” Literally, especially

as it is interpreted by the Church Fathers, it is a sign of the cross. This is
how the just are to be saved, by the cross of Jesus Christ. That brings us
to the question: Have you been sealed? And the answer is a confident and
reassuring, “Yes!” You will remember this from your catechism class: “The
three sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders confer, in
addition to grace, a sacramental character or ‘seal’ [or mark] by which
the Christian shares in Christ’s priesthood and is made a member of the
Church according to different states and functions. This configuration
to Christ and to the Church, brought about by the Spirit, is indelible;
it remains forever in the Christian as a positive disposition for grace, a
promise and guarantee of divine protection, and as a vocation to divine
worship and to the service of the Church. Therefore these sacraments can
never be repeated” (CCC 1121).

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 DAY SIXTY-SEVEN

YOU ARE BUILT INTO A SPIRITUAL HOUSE,

A HOLY PRIESTHOOD

Exodus 29:1-9: “And there is more for thee to do, before they can
be my consecrated priests. Choose a bullock out of the herd,
and two rams without blemish. Then make unleavened bread,
and unleavened pastry baked with oil, and unleavened cakes
soaked in oil, all of pure wheat flour, and put them in a basket
ready to be offered up. The bullock and the two rams thou shalt
drive to the door of the tabernacle which bears record of me.
Thither, too, thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons; and when
thou hast washed them, father and sons in water, clothe Aaron
in his vestments, the robe, the tunic, the mantle, and the burse
made fast to his mantle’s band, and put the mitre on his head,
and the holy plate over the mitre. And then anoint his head with
oil; so shall he be consecrated. Then it is the turn of his sons

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 to approach, and be clothed in their linen robes, and have their
girdles tied and their mitres put on, like Aaron himself; so they
shall be my priests, hallowed eternally."

day 67 meditation

T he Old and New Testament priesthood has a long and complex

history. Certainly, the priesthood is integral to the spiritual and
sacramental life of the People of God. Interestingly, this complexity was
not a part of God’s plan from the beginning. In Genesis we discover
an incident indicative of the simplicity of the priesthood. Following
Adam’s fall from grace, we read, “And the LORD God made for Adam
and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21).
This is a clear illusion to the common priesthood, God’s original
intention, that all his people be priests and offer sacrifice (at least the
firstborn son). But the disobedience of mankind and his rejection of
God’s plan required something new and he gave a new priesthood
to Aaron and his sons, to the Levites, and eventually to the ordained
ministers of the New Testament era. But the common priesthood
persists and we see this in the letter from St. Peter when he writes,
“Come to him, to that living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight
chosen and precious; and like living stones be yourselves built into
a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

T he ministerial priesthood (the ordained priesthood) is at the

service of the common priesthood or your priesthood (acquired
at Baptism). And just as St Peter writes, a priest is to offer spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Men engaged in
Exodus have an uncanny ability to do this well, having emptied
themselves of earthly distraction and now stand more intentionally

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 DAY SIXTY-EIGHT

SACRIFICE

Exodus 29:9e-46: “When thou hast consecrated their hands, bring

out the bullock in front of the tabernacle that bears record
of me; there, when Aaron and his sons have laid their hands
upon its head, thou shalt slay it in the Lord’s presence, at the
tabernacle door. Some of its blood thou shalt smear, with thy
hand, upon the horns of the altar; the rest thou shalt pour out
at the altar’s foot. Then take all the fat about its entrails, the
membrane of its liver, and the two kidneys with the fat on them
and offer them as a burnt-sacrifice on the altar; the flesh, skin
and dung of the bullock thou shalt burn beyond the confines of
the camp, as an offering for sin. Take one of the rams, too, and
bid Aaron and his sons lay their hands upon its head; then kill
it, and pour out some of its blood round the altar. Cut up the
ram itself into pieces; put these and the head underneath, the

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 entrails (when thou hast washed them) and the feet above, and
so make a burnt-sacrifice of the whole ram upon the altar; the
scent of the victim so offered to the Lord will find acceptance
with him. Then take the other ram, Aaron and his sons laying
their hands on its head meanwhile; and when thou hast killed
this ram, put some of the blood on the tip of Aaron’s right ear,
the thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot,
and do the same by his sons. Pour blood, too, all round the
surface of the altar, and then sprinkle with this, and with the oil
used for anointing, Aaron and his sons, and the vestments they
wear. So hallowing all alike, take the fat, the tail, the covering
of the entrails, the membrane of the liver, the two kidneys with
the fat on them, and the right shoulder from this ram, the victim
of their consecration; take a loaf of bread, too, a piece of pastry
cooked in oil, and one of the cakes, out of the basket that lies
there before the Lord; and put all this in the hands of Aaron
and his sons. Then raise it aloft in the Lord’s presence, and by
that act they shall be consecrated, Aaron and his sons both.
Then take all the offerings out of their hands again, and make
a burnt-sacrifice of them upon the altar; the scent of them will
be acceptable to the Lord, in whose honour they are offered
up. The breast of the ram that is used in Aaron’s hallowing
thou shalt remove, and sanctify it by holding it up in the Lord’s
presence; this shall be thy own share. Thou shalt set apart this
consecrated breast and shoulder, taken from the ram by which
Aaron and Aaron’s line are hallowed, to be their lot, a fixed
privilege the people of Israel will grant to them; these are the
earnest and the first-fruits of those welcome-offerings which
they make to the Lord. The sacred vestments which Aaron wore

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 shall be worn by his sons after him when they are anointed
and consecrated; whatever son of his shall succeed him,
entering the tabernacle that bears record of me and ministering
before me in the sanctuary, shall wear them for seven days
continuously. As for the ram with which they were hallowed, it
must be taken away and cooked in a holy place; and so Aaron
and his sons will eat it. They, too, will eat the bread from the
basket, in the porch of the tabernacle that bears record of me,
so that the sacrifice of it may atone for them, and their hands
be hallowed by the offering of it; these things are too holy to
be eaten by anyone not of their family. Whatever remains till
morning of the consecrated meat or bread must be burnt in
the fire; it is too holy to be eaten. All this that I have told thee
must be done to Aaron and his sons; thou art to spend seven
days in consecrating their hands, and on each of those days a
bullock must be sacrificed as a sin-offering to atone for them.
So offering a victim to make atonement, thou wilt cleanse the
altar, and sanctify it by anointing. Seven whole days thou must
spend in winning favour for the altar and consecrating it; so it
shall be all holiness, and whoever touches it shall become holy
thereby. On this altar thou shalt sacrifice two lambs day by day,
with no intermission; one is to be offered in the morning, the
other in the evening. One lamb each morning, with a tenth of a
bushel of flour, kneaded in three pints of pure oil, and as much
wine for a libation; and another offered in the evening with the
same rite and all the additional offerings aforesaid, a fragrance
acceptable to the Lord. This is his sacrifice, to be performed day
after day, by one generation of you after another, in the Lord’s
presence, there at the door of the tabernacle that bears record,

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 the appointed place where I will give thee audience. There I
will issue my commands to the sons of Israel; that altar shall
be hallowed by my glorious presence. Hallowed it shall be, and
hallowed the tabernacle that bears record of me; hallowed shall
Aaron be and his sons, for their priestly office. And I will dwell
in the midst of the Israelites, and be their God; and they shall
know me for the Lord God that rescued them from the land of
Egypt, so as to abide among them, their Lord and their God."

day 68 meditations

A gain, a lengthy diatribe about sacrifice. There is a mystery here:

God never intended for mankind to offer him sacrifice. As a
matter of fact, sacrifice was a bit of a compromise. Truthfully, the
Hebrew people sought sacrifice as all their pagan neighbors were eagerly
sacrificing to their false and manufactured gods. The Hebrew people,
answering an innate impulse, pressed God to allow sacrifice. The words
of the Prophet Jeremiah speak eloquently to this conflict. Jeremiah
lamented:

“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Add your
burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. For in the
day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not
speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt
offerings and sacrifices. But this command I gave them, ‘Obey
my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people;
and walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be
well with you.’ But they did not obey or incline their ear, but
walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their
evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. From the day
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 that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I
have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day
after day; yet they did not listen to me, or incline their ear, but
stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers. ‘So you
shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to
you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you.’”

The day would surely come, and this should answer a question, when
Jesus Christ would offer himself, a truly efficacious sacrifice that ended
all further need for sacrifice. For he, indeed, listened to the voice of
God and obeyed his Will with all excellence. He also asserted, “No
one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have
power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again; this charge I
have received from my Father" (John 10:18). So, to men who live in
the “end times” or the Christian era, be sure to hold fast to the words
of God and obey him with all your heart, even as we bask in the cross
of Jesus Christ who offered himself as an expiation for sin. Know the
mind of God and act upon his word and, without reservation, listen
to Holy Mother Church who has been charged with proclaiming the
Word of God even to the end of the age.

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 DAY SIXTY-NINE

THE SWEET SMELL OF INCENSE

Exodus 30:1-10: “For burning incense, thou shalt make an altar of

acacia wood, a cubit square in surface, and two cubits high; it
must have horns going out of it. The whole must be covered with
pure gold, the grate and the walls around it and the horns too. It
is to have a rim of gold about it, and close under the rim two gold
rings on either side, with poles in them, so that the altar can be
carried; these poles, too, must be of acacia wood, gilded over. Its
position is to be facing the veil that hides the ark and its records,
facing, too, the throne that overshadows them, my trysting-place
with thee. Aaron, when he trims the lamps each morning, shall
burn fragrant incense on it, and again when he lights them at
evening he shall burn incense in the Lord’s presence; a custom
you are to preserve age after age. You are to offer no incense
there but what is of my own prescription; there is to be no
sacrifice, no victim, no pouring of libations. Once a year Aaron

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 shall make intercession at the horns of it, with the blood that is
offered in atonement for sin, winning pardon for you there, age
after age; it shall be all holiness in the Lord’s honour."

day 69 meditation

T he use of incense is common to both the Hebrew and Christian

liturgy and has been for thousands of years. There are practical
considerations for the use of incense: its sweet smell, its “otherworldly”
wafting about the sanctuary, its ability to move the mind to consider the
transcendent. There is also the connection incense has to the realms of
heaven. In the Psalms, “Let my prayer be counted as incense before thee, and
the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice” (141:2). In revelation,
we read that “…another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden
censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the
saints upon the golden altar before the throne; and the smoke of the incense
rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God”
(8:3-4). Thus, the purpose of incense is detailed, the smoke of incense
accompanies the prayers of the saints to the seat of God.

The golden altar (altar of incense) was directly in front of the Holy of
Holies. Prayers are offered before the altar of incense. The connection
between the incense and its closeness to the Holy of Holies is
important; one could not help but direct one’s thoughts to heaven
before the holiest place on the earth. The book of Revelation connects
the earthly liturgy to the heavenly liturgy: Rev 9:13 states, “Then the
sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of
the golden altar before God…” The heavenly altar of incense, where
the prayers of the saints ascend before God (8:3), like its earthly
counterpart, has four horns protruding from its four corners” (Ignatius
48). Thus, when the servers bring out the thurible for Mass and the
smoke pours into the sanctuary, you can join your ancestors, angels,
and saints in the universal prayer to God.
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 DAY SEVENTY

WE BELONG TO GOD

Exodus 30:11-21: “modern world can be cold and harsh. Conflicting

dogmas and political groups as well as politically correct
“categories” (no longer are we male and female, we are 52
categories or more) increasingly make us feel isolated and
alone. The passage from Exodus, then, gives us consolation and
reassurance. Before we are Republican or Democrat, before we
are Capitalists or Socialists, before we are the One Percent or
the Working Class, even before we are Wildcats or Tar Heels or
Fighting Irish, we are God’s. In Exodus 30 God takes a census,
determining what or who belongs to him. In 2 Samuel 24,
King David takes a census of the people in his Kingdom and
immediately falls out of favor with God. He was attempting
to determine his own strength as a King and the extent of
his Kingdom. Essentially, he was counting what belonged to
another: God. No matter if we are poor or rich, powerful or

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 weak, young or old, healthy or sick, no matter or race or our
personal circumstances, no matter what sin we have committed,
again, we belong to God. We were created by him and for him.
Our existence is an expression of his love, our life is his glory,
and our destiny is to be with him. In our darkest moments, when
we are being tested beyond our strength, we always remember:
we have been counted."

day 70 meditation

T he modern world can be cold and harsh. Conflicting dogmas and

political groups as well as politically correct “categories” (no longer
are we male and female, we are 52 categories or more) increasingly
make us feel isolated and alone. The passage from Exodus, then, gives
us consolation and reassurance. Before we are Republican or Democrat,
before we are Capitalists or Socialists, before we are the One Percent or
the Working Class, even before we are Wildcats or Tar Heels or Fighting
Irish, we are God’s. In Exodus 30 God takes a census, determining what
or who belongs to him. In 2 Samuel 24, King David takes a census of the
people in his Kingdom and immediately falls out of favor with God. He
was attempting to determine his own strength as a King and the extent
of his Kingdom. Essentially, he was counting what belonged to another:
God. No matter if we are poor or rich, powerful or weak, young or old,
healthy or sick, no matter or race or our personal circumstances, no
matter what sin we have committed, again, we belong to God. We were
created by him and for him. Our existence is an expression of his love,
our life is his glory, and our destiny is to be with him. In our darkest
moments, when we are being tested beyond our strength, we always
remember: we have been counted.

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 DAY SEVENTY-ONE

CONSECRATED TO THE LORD

Exodus 30:22-38: “This, too, was the Lord’s word to Moses: Provide
thyself with spices, a stone of the best and choicest myrrh, and
half a stone of cinnamon, and half a stone of scented cane, a
stone, too, of cassia, all reckoned by sanctuary weights; and with
these, three quarts of olive oil. And so make the holy oil to be
used for anointing, an ointment mixed with all the perfumer’s
art. This thou must use to anoint the tabernacle that bears
record of me, and the ark where that record lies; the table with
its appurtenances, the lamp-stand with its appurtenances,
the altar used for incense, and that used for burnt-sacrifice,
and all the instruments belonging to them. All these thou
shalt sanctify, and they shall be all holiness; whoever touches
them shall become holy thereby. Aaron himself and his sons
thou shalt anoint and hallow, before they can minister as my

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 priests. This, too, tell the Israelites: The oil used for anointing
is a thing you must keep set apart for me, age after age. It is
not to be used for anointing the flesh of man; nor are you to
compound oil for yourselves as this is compounded; it is a thing
set apart, and you must keep it holy. Whoever compounds
such, though it be to give it to a stranger for his use, is lost to
his people. This, too, was the Lord’s word to Moses: Provide
thyself with spices, storax, and burnt shell, and sweet-smelling
galbanum, and pure frankincense, all in equal weight, and make
incense compounded with all the perfumer’s art, well tempered
together, unadulterate, fit for hallowing. All this thou shalt beat
into fine powder, and keep a store of it before the tabernacle
that bears record of me, my trysting-place with thee. For you,
this incense shall be all holiness; you must not compound
it so for your own use, it is set apart for the Lord. Whoever
compounds the like, to make perfume for his own enjoyment, is
lost to his people."

day 71 mediation

N otable in this passage is the exclusion of “ordinary men” from the

holy anointing. Old Testament themes such as these contradict the
current thinking that “God loves everyone”. If so, why would he exclude
an ordinary man from being made holy by this sacred anointing? The
answer is simple: ordinary men and women were “unfit” before the Lord
God. Again, this completely contradicts contemporary thinking: that,
even though I may have boldly sinned by convincing myself that “what
I am doing is not sin” (i.e. subjectivism), the reality is this: a man who
sins cuts himself off from God. And, once again, we have every reason to

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 give praise and glory to our Savior, Our Lord Jesus Christ. St. Paul reveals
an ancient mystery to us in Ephesians, chapter 3, that all men, both Jew
and Gentile, are now reconciled to God by the cross of Jesus Christ.
Everyone, exclusive of no one, is redeemed by the blood of the lamb.
That is why, in the Sacrament of Baptism, a holy anointing accompanies
the regenerating bath in water, that all people may be “most holy”.
Would that we as men would call to mind [and even faintly understood]
our sacredness in the eyes of God. Repulsed would we be by any notion
or inclination to sin.

In the words of Pope St. Leo the Great: “Christian, remember your dignity,
and now that you share in God’s own nature, do not return by sin to your
former base condition. Bear in mind who is your head and of whose body
you are a member. Do not forget that you have been rescued from the
power of darkness and brought into the light of God’s kingdom!”

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ACTION LIST

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 WEEK ELEVEN:
ACTION LIST

1) The Desert Fathers, monks who entered the desert

for prayer and penance in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, often
taught that “awareness” was the most important element in
the spiritual life. So much more for you. Having come so far,
it would be easy to be deceived by the Evil One and brought
down by a sin. Men who make the journey through Exodus
thus far, often find that sin can come like a flash - fast and
without warning. Like a mouse milling around the den of a
snake, we may not even be aware of the danger until it is too
late! Awareness is fundamental to the spiritual life.

2) Remember that it is God who has brought you this

far. Reserve ample time in your prayer to praise and thank
him for the abundant blessings he has bestowed upon you.
Praise him for spiritual gifts, your Exodus brothers, and this
unique and privileged time you have shared with him.

3) Soon, you will be completing Exodus (Applause!).

The time is now to consider your life. What is it that you miss?
What are you interiorly obsessing about? A beer? A warm
shower? Social Media? Succulent foods? Whatever you long
for is exactly that to which you have an inordinate attachment.
You will have to make a decision about your “relationship”
with that thing. You will have to determine for yourself if the
freedom you now enjoy is worth sacrificing for that thing. It is
your decision, nobody will make it for you. Begin even now to
pray, asking the Wisdom of God to guide you with regard to
your new life.
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 DAY SEVENTY-TWO

WORK AND REST

Exodus 31:1-18: “And now the Lord said to Moses, Here is the
name of the man I have singled out to help thee, Beseleel, son
of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Juda. I have filled him with
my divine spirit, making him wise, adroit, and skilful in every
kind of craftsmanship; so that he can design whatever is to be
designed in gold, silver, and bronze, carve both stone and jewel,
and woods of all sorts. I have found a partner for him in Oöliab,
son of Achisamech, of the tribe of Dan; and I have inspired the
hearts of all the craftsmen with skill to carry out the commands
which I have given thee. The tabernacle which attests my
covenant, the ark that bears record of me, the throne above it,
and all the appurtenances of the tabernacle, the table with its
appurtenances, the lamp-stand of pure gold and all that goes
with it, the altar for incense and the altar for burnt-sacrifice,

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 and all that goes with these, the basin and its stand, the sacred
vestments to be worn by the high priest Aaron and his sons
when they perform their holy office, the oil for anointing, and
the incense that is to perfume the sanctuary, all that I have
bidden thee make, shall be made through their workmanship.
This, too, was the Lord’s word to Moses: Give the sons of Israel
a warning from me, Be sure that you observe the sabbath day. It
is a token between us, that is to last all through the ages which
lie before you, reminding you that I am the Lord, and you are set
apart for me. Keep my sabbath; it has a binding claim on you, on
pain of death for all who violate it. The man who does any work
on that day is lost to his people. You have six days to work in;
the seventh is the sabbath, a day of rest set apart for the Lord,
and if anybody works on that day, his life must pay for it. It is for
the sons of Israel to observe my sabbath and honour it among
themselves, age after age. It is an undying covenant, a perpetual
token between me and the Israelites; the Lord spent six days
making heaven and earth, and on the seventh he rested from
his labours. Then, at the end of all this converse with Moses
on mount Sinai, the Lord gave him two stone tablets, with laws
inscribed on them by the very finger of God."

day 72 meditation

T he writer of Exodus, with great skill and insight, shows us two

important truths in today’s passage from Exodus. First, he records
how God lavishly bestows praise on two of his workmen, Bezalel and
Oholiab. Both are “filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and
intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship…” in order that,

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 by the work of their hands, they might return the glory to God in
the magnificent things they craft and build in his honor. A man once
bragged upon himself that all he had built and acquired throughout
his career, he owed to no one but himself. He claimed to be a self-
made man and had earned the right to his property, his money and
his household. What a fool he is. Everything that we have, we have
been given. What would this man be without even the air he breathes
into his lungs? How mighty would he be if he lacked even that one
necessity? This passage reminds us that we have been given much, and
to whom we should give thanks and praise for his great generosity.

The second paragraph immediately takes up the issue of rest – so closely

related to work. Indeed, for centuries the Church has taught us that we
work in order that we might have rest. A quick perusal of the second
paragraph indicates how seriously God takes this command to work for
6 days and to rest on the 7th. Remember, we rest with our God. Sunday
should be kept sacred and reserved, first, for worship, and then for family,
friends, reading, hiking, fishing, recreation, and, importantly, for a
Sunday feast. When memory of work and career has long been forgotten,
time with family, gathered around the dining room table, will never be
forgotten. We work in order that we might rest.

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 DAY SEVENTY-THREE

IDOLATRY

Exodus 32:1-29: “Meanwhile, finding that Moses’ return from the

mountain was so long delayed, the people remonstrated with
Aaron. Bestir thyself, they said; fashion us gods, to be our
leaders. We had a man to lead us, this Moses, when we came
away from Egypt; but there is no saying what has become of
him. Take out the gold ear-rings, said Aaron, that your wives and
sons and daughters wear, and bring them to me. The people,
then, brought him their ear-rings as he had bidden them, and
he melted down what they had given him and cast them into
the figure of a calf. And all cried out, Here are thy gods, Israel,
the gods that rescued thee from the land of Egypt. Aaron,
finding them so minded, built an altar in front of it, and bade
the crier give out that there would be a solemn feast next day
in the Lord’s honour. So when they awoke on the morrow, they
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 offered burnt-sacrifice and welcome-offerings; and with that,
the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to take their
pleasure. And now the Lord said to Moses, Away, down with
thee; they have fallen into sin, this people thou didst bring out
of Egypt with thee. They have been swift to leave the way thou
didst mark out for them, by making a molten calf and falling
down to worship it; brought victims to it, and cried out, Here
are thy gods, Israel, the gods that rescued thee from the land of
Egypt. And the Lord said to Moses, I know them now for a stiff-
necked race; spare me thy importunacy, let me vent my anger
and destroy them; I will make thy posterity into a great nation
instead. But Moses would still plead with the Lord his God;
What, Lord, said he, wilt thou vent thy anger on thy people,
the people thou didst rescue from Egypt so imperiously, with
so strong a hand? Wilt thou let the Egyptians say it was but
a treacherous deliverance; that thou hadst marked them out
for death, here in the mountains, and no trace left of them on
earth? Oh let the storm of thy anger pass; pardon thy people’s
guilt! Remember thy servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and
the oath thou didst swear by thy own name: I will make your
posterity countless as the stars in heaven, and give them all this
land of which I spoke to you, to be their everlasting home. So
the Lord relented, and spared his people the punishment he had
threatened. With that, Moses came down from the mountain,
carrying in his hand the two tablets of the law, with writing on
either side, God’s workmanship; a divine hand had traced the
characters they bore. And now, as the noise of shouting reached
him, Josue said to Moses, I hear the cry of battle in the camp.
No, said he, this is no sound of triumph or of rout; it is the

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 sound of singing that I hear. Then they drew nearer the camp,
and he saw the calf standing there, and the dancing. And so
angry was he that he threw down the tablets he held, and broke
them against the spurs of the mountain; then he took the calf
they had made and threw it on the fire, and beat it into dust;
this dust he sprinkled over water, which he made the Israelites
drink. And he asked Aaron, What harm has this people done
thee, that thou hast involved them in such guilt? Do not be
angry with me, my lord, said he; thou knowest how the whole
bent of this people is towards wrong-doing, and it was they
who said to me, Fashion us gods to be our leaders. We had a
man to lead us, this Moses, when we came away from Egypt,
but there is no saying now what has become of him. So I asked
them, Which of you has any gold in his possession? And they
brought what they had, and gave it to me; I cast it into the fire,
and this calf was the issue of it. Moses saw, too, that the people
went all unarmed; Aaron had let them strip, in their shameless
debauchery, so that they were defenceless against attack. So
he stood there at the gate of the camp, and said, Rally to my
side, all that will take the Lord’s part. Then the whole tribe of
Levi gathered round them, and he said, A message to you from
the Lord God of Israel. Gird on your swords, and pass to and
fro through the middle of the camp, from gate to gate, killing
your own brothers, your own friends, your own neighbours. So
the sons of Levi did as Moses bade them, and that day some
twenty-three thousand men fell slain. To-day, said Moses, at war
with your own flesh and blood, you have dedicated your hands
to the Lord’s service, and earned his blessing."

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 day 73 meditation

T he Hebrew People, so precious in the eyes of the Lord, have been

cut off from the Lord. Notice the dialogue, somewhat comical
if not such a tragedy: “And the LORD said to Moses, Go down; for
YOUR people, whom YOU brought up out of the land of Egypt, have
corrupted themselves…” To which the anxious Moses responds, “O
LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against YOUR people, whom
YOU have brought forth out of the land of Egypt?” Neither want to
claim such a disloyal and shameful people.

And how smug we are. Why, we would never be so stupid as to

worship a false god, especially an inanimate object like a calf made of
gold! Or, at least that is what we tell ourselves. But consider this: the
golden calf represented three things: a calf, virile and carnal, made of
gold. Brothers, we, too, worship the same golden calf! The bull-calf
is virile, powerful. The bull-calf is carnal, ready to mate, ready to sire.
The bull-calf is made of gold, precious metal, priceless. In other words,
far from worshipping a statue of a golden calf, the Hebrew people
worshiped power, sex and money. Do we not do the same? When
we work long hours to acquire more, when we neglect our families
to earn more money, when we wantonly view pornography or linger
with inappropriate fantasies, when we use our natural power for our
own good as opposed to the good of our neighbor… when we give
ourselves over to these dominate things of our culture, we too worship
an inanimate object. We, too, deserve to be abandoned by our God and
left to our own devises. A young man from the Midwest who worked
his way to the offices on Wall Street, was loath to walk past a statue of a
golden bull on Wall Street, especially when he learned about this passage.
Google “Bull on Wall Street” and click images and you can see, right in
the midst of the “trading houses” a menacing statue of a bull. Refuse to
worship. Recall the words of Moses, “Who is on the LORD’s side?”

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 DAY SEVENTY-FOUR

MOSES PREFIGURES CHRIST AS MEDIATOR

Exodus 32:30-33:6: “When the morrow came, Moses told the

people, You have sinned heinously; I will go up into the Lord’s
presence, and see if I can make amends for your guilt. And so,
having recourse to the Lord again, he prayed thus: Thy people
have sinned heinously, in making themselves gods of gold. I
entreat thee, pardon this offence of theirs; or else blot out my
name too from the record thou hast written. Whoever sins
against me, the Lord answered, shall be blotted out from my
record. But do thou march on, and lead this people into the
land I told thee of, and my angel shall still go before thee. But
when the time comes for vengeance, this sin of theirs shall not
be forgotten.The Lord, then, made the people suffer for their
wickedness in the matter of the calf Aaron made for them.

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 And now a new message came to Moses from the Lord, March
on, then, with the people thou hast led out of Egypt; make
thy way hence to the land I promised Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob should be the home of their race. I am ready to send an
angel who will go before thee, so as to cast out Chanaanite,
Amorrhite, Hethite, Pherezite, Hevite and Jebusite, and bring
thee into the land that is all milk and honey. But I will not go
with thee myself, stiff-necked people as thou art, or I might be
moved to destroy thee on the way. The people, on hearing this
bitter reproach, went mourning, and none wore his ornaments,
as custom bade; the Lord’s word came through Moses to the
Israelites, You are a stiff-necked people, and if once I set out on
the march among you, I would be moved to destroy you. Take
off, here and now, your ornaments, and wait till I have resolved
what to do with you. So there, at mount Horeb, the sons of
Israel laid their ornaments aside."

day 74 meditation

M oses is an image of Jesus Christ. Just as God raises Moses, sends

him to confront Pharaoh, leads the people through the waters
of the Red Sea, through the desert where they are fed on manna, and
to the Promised Land; so does God raise Jesus, send him to confront
Satan, lead his disciples through the waters of Baptism, through the
desert of life where they are fed on the Eucharist, and into Paradise (the
Promised Land). And again, in today’s passage, to make atonement
for the Aaron and the Hebrew People, Moses valiantly beseeches God,
“But now, if thou wilt forgive their sin -- and if not, blot me, I pray

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 thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.” Moses is willing to
sacrifice himself for the sake of the People. Moses is an image of Jesus
Christ. Just as we deserve death and punishment for the sins of which
we are truly guilty, Christ (like Moses) becomes our mediator before
God. But in this case, he is triumphant over both sin and death! Thus
does Jesus assert, “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my
own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it
again; this charge I have received from my Father.”

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 DAY SEVENTY-FIVE

THE DIVINE PRESENCE

Exodus 33:7-23: “Moses, too, removed his tent, and pitched it far
off, away from the camp, calling it, The tent which bears witness
to the covenant; to this, all who had disputes to settle must
betake themselves, away from the camp. And when Moses
repaired to this tent of his, all the people rose up and stood at
the doors of their own tents, following Moses with their eyes
till he went in. And, once he was within the tent that bore
witness of the covenant, the pillar of cloud would come down
and stand at the entrance of it, and there the Lord spoke with
Moses, while all watched the pillar of cloud standing there, and
rose up and worshipped, each at his own tent door. Thus the
Lord spoke with Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his
friend. And when he returned to the camp, Josue, son of Nun,
the young man who served him, never left the tent unguarded.
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 Then Moses complained to the Lord, Thou biddest me lead this
people on the march, but thou wilt not tell me who it is thou art
sending me for my guide. And this is the man whom thou callest
thy familiar friend, assuring him of thy favour! Nay, if indeed
thou dost look upon me with favour, make thy own presence
known to me; let me know thee, and know that thy favour is
with me. Have more regard for this folk, thy own people. My
presence, the Lord said, shall go before thee, and bring thee to
thy resting-place. It must be thyself, said Moses, going before
us; otherwise do not bid us leave the place where we are. How
am I and thy people to know that thou dost look upon us with
favour, if thou wilt not journey with us; such a privilege as no
other people in the world can boast? And the Lord told Moses,
I will grant this request of thine; such favour thou hast with me,
thou, my familiar friend. Give me, then, said Moses, the sight of
thy glory. And he answered, All my splendour shall pass before
thy eyes, and I will pronounce, in thy presence, my own divine
name, the name of the Lord who shews favour where he will,
grants pardon where he will. But, my face, he said, thou canst
not see; mortal man cannot see me, and live to tell of it. Then
he said, There is a place here, close by me, where thou mayst
stand on a rock; there I will station thee in a cleft of the rock,
while my glory passes by, and cover thee with my right hand
until I have gone past. So, when I take my hand away, thou shalt
follow me with thy eyes, but my face thou canst not see."

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 day 75 meditation

T he wisdom of the Church is breathtaking. It is not a coincidence

that Moses goes to the tent outside the camp to confer with God
where “everyone who sought the LORD would go!” His presence
consumes the tabernacle. And we, modern men so far removed, still
approach God’s presence in the tabernacle of our local parish church
to confer with him at a sanctuary where God so desires to be “present
among his people”. In addition, only Moses was permitted into an
intimate friendship with God. Only he goes to the mountains and
encounters the Lord. However, because of man’s sinfulness, Moses
is told, “You cannot see my face; for man shall not see me and live.”
God only allows Moses to look upon his back. Even the apostles,
given the same intimacy with Jesus on Mount Tabor “fell on their
faces, and were terrified” (Matthew 17) in the presence of Jesus Christ
glorified. Likewise, we approach Jesus Christ “under the appearance
of Bread”. Woe to him who does not weigh heavily the Real Presence.
“For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and
drinks judgment upon himself ” (I Corinthians 11:29). Because we are
redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb, we all have access to the Divine
Presence, not just a chosen mediator. Go to Jesus in the Tabernacle and
“confer” with him. The Eucharist is an offer of unthinkable friendship!

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 DAY SEVENTY-SIX

BLACK AND WHITE

Exodus 34:1-9: “After this the Lord said to him, Carve two tablets
of stone, like those others, and I will write on them the same
words as I wrote on the tablets thou didst break. Be ready to
come up on to mount Sinai in the morning, and there thou shalt
stand before me on the mountain top. No one else is to climb
up with thee, no one else is to be in sight on any part of the
mountain; even the cattle and the sheep must not be allowed
to graze within view. So Moses carved two tablets of stone, like
the others; and he rose at dawn and went up mount Sinai at the
Lord’s bidding, with the tablets in his hand. The Lord came down
to meet him, hidden in cloud, and Moses stood with him there,
calling on the Lord’s name. Thus the Lord passed by, and he
cried out, It is the Lord God, the ruler of all things, the merciful,
the gracious; slow to take vengeance, rich in kindness, faithful

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 to his promises. He is true to his promise of mercy a thousand
times over; shame or sin or guilt is none but he forgives it; yet,
before him, none can claim innocence in his own right, and
when he punishes, the son must make amends for the father’s
guilt, to the third and the fourth generation. Then, without more
ado, Moses fell prostrate with his face to the ground in worship.
Lord, he said, if thou dost look on me with favour, I entreat thee
to go with us on our journey, stiff-necked as this people is; guilt
of our sins do thou pardon, and keep us for thy own."

day 76 meditation

E very Christian man must be aware of the current moral situation

in which he lives and the influence it has on our own lives. For
most of the world, our moral conduct, by and large, is determined
by subjectivism – meaning we determine for ourselves what is
right and what is wrong, what is black and what his white. Most
defend this moral schemata today, even some within the Church.
But, as participants in Exodus, we are very much aware that the
Commandments are given to us to preserve our freedom that we
might love God with an undivided heart and family and friends more
perfectly. The world, as they say, is not “black and white,” but we reply,
“It is certainly checkered black and white!” An informed Christian can
easily discern between right and wrong… and, just because the right is
difficult, does not make it wrong.

In the Exodus passage today, we have a view of God’s great mercy.

Yet, God is rarely “either/or” but more likely “both/and”. In other
words, God can describe himself to our delight as, “a God merciful
and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and
faithfulness…” But he also is quick to add, “…who will by no means
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 clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” In
other words, God is mercy, Jesus is mercy in the flesh, but he is also
Justice. Mercy, in fact, cannot exist without justice. Justice is what we
deserve, but to the great benevolence and generosity God, we are often
given mercy.

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 DAY SEVENTY-SEVEN

ANIMAL SACRIFICE

Exodus 34:10-26: “And the Lord answered, Here is my covenant,

to which I am pledged. In the presence of you all I will do such
marvels as were never yet seen on earth by any nation; the
people among whom thou dwellest shall see for themselves
what the Lord can do, and be terrified at the sight. Thy part is
to keep all the commandments I am now giving thee. When I
dispossess Amorrhite, Chanaanite, Hethite, Pherezite, Hevite
and Jebusite at thy coming, make no treaty of friendship
with any inhabitant of the land, or it will be thy ruin; destroy
their altars, break their images, cut down their forest shrines.
Never pay worship to any alien god; the very name of the
Lord bespeaks jealous love, he will endure no rival. Do not ally
yourselves, then, with those who dwell there; those faithless
hearts will be set on their own gods, and when they do sacrifice

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 to their idols, someone will bid thee come and feast upon the
meat so offered. Nor must thou find wives for thy sons among
their daughters; faithless themselves, they will make thy sons,
too, faithless, and worshippers of their own gods. Cast no metal
to make thyself idols. Observe the feast of unleavened bread.
For seven days, in the first month of spring, thou shalt eat thy
bread without leaven, as I bade thee; it was in that spring month
thou didst escape from Egypt. The first male thing that comes
from every womb is forfeit to me; every such living thing, be it
ox or ass, is mine by right. When an ass has her first foal, thou
shalt offer a sheep in payment of its ransom; or, if thou hast
no mind to ransom it, let it be killed. The first-born of thy own
sons thou must ransom, presenting thyself before me with an
offering. Thou hast six days to work in; on the seventh, both
ploughing and reaping must cease. Thou shalt keep the feast
of the seven weeks, with the first-fruits of thy wheat harvest,
and another feast at the end of the year, when all is gathered
in. Thrice in the year all thy men folk shall present themselves
before the Lord, the almighty God of Israel. And so, when I have
dispossessed the nations at thy coming, and given thee wide
lands to dwell in, three times a year present thyself before the
Lord thy God, and thy lands none shall invade by treachery.
When thou offerest living things in sacrifice to me, the bread
that goes with them shall not be leavened, nor shalt thou leave
any of the paschal victim till the morrow. Bring the first-fruits
of thy land as an offering to the house of the Lord thy God.
Seething a kid in its dam’s milk is a rite forbidden thee."

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 day 77 mediation

O f special note in this passage is the name with which God names
himself: Jealous. We often see jealously in a negative light, so the
fact that this name makes us uncomfortable is understandable. On the
other hand, the name is of great consolation to God’s people. He is a
jealous God; he does not wish to share his people with any other false
god. That is why, in the following three passages, he references harlotry.
God uses nuptial imagery all throughout Sacred Scripture, even the
Book of Revelation. It is God’s way of telling us how utterly “given” he
is to us! He explicitly describes himself as Israel’s husband and lover.
When the Hebrew people worship other gods, they play the harlot to
the husband. Infidelity in Israel’s relationship to God is like a married
woman who gives herself to other men in harlotry. Any married man
ought to quickly understand the pain that God “feels” due to our
infidelity in light of this imagery.

Another passage of note is the command to redeem animal and

man alike. God declares, “All that opens the womb is mine.” This is
significant as the Hebrew people would offer animal sacrifice for the
sins of the people. Well, that poses a problem when you are offering
an animal that, literally, belongs to God. In Psalm 50, God actually
chastises the people for offering sacrifice to him as he says, “every beast
of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the
birds of the air, and all that moves in the field is mine. Were I hungry,
I would not tell you; for the world and all that is in it is mine” (Psalm
50:9). How, then, is man to offer sacrifice for the reparation of sin
when God owns all that man has available to him to offer in sacrifice?
Perhaps this, alone, will change our understanding of Christmas. In
the Incarnation, the Divine is joined to the human, without confusion,
and man now has something he possess that can atone for sin. As
the Church Fathers have so often said, Jesus is the only person in the
history of the world who was born in order to die.

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 DAY SEVENTY-EIGHT

YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Exodus 34:27-35: “Then the Lord said to Moses, Put these words
in writing, as terms of the covenant I am making with thee
and with Israel. So, for forty days and nights, without food or
drink, he remained there with the Lord; and he wrote down
on the tablets the ten precepts of the covenant. Moses
came down, after this, from Mount Sinai, bearing with
him the two tablets on which the law was written; and his
face, although he did not know it, was all radiant after the
meeting at which he had held speech with God. The sight of
that radiance made Aaron and the sons of Israel shrink from
all near approach to him;he must call out to Aaron and the
leaders of the people before they would gather round him.
To these he spoke first; then all the Israelites came to greet
him, and he passed on to them all the commands he had

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 received on mount Sinai. When he had finished speaking,
he put a veil over his face, which he only laid aside when
he went into the Lord’s presence and had speech with him.
Afterwards he would come out, and tell the Israelites what
commands had been given him; so they saw his face, as he
came out, still radiant, but always, when he spoke to them,
he veiled his face as before."

day 78 mediation

S cholars are uncertain as to exactly what it means that the face of

Moses “shone” because he had been talking with God. Actually,
the debate over the true meaning of this word has not ceased since the
words were written. For our purposes, however, it is safe to assume
that the presence of God has truly and utterly changed the person
of Moses; that their relationship was so profound that Moses now
becomes an “icon” of sorts of God. In other words, when you look on
the face of Moses, one can “see” the face of God. This is not strange or
exaggerated, as the same could and should be said of us. Consider the
Blessed Virgin Mary who is often compared with the moon. The moon
does not give off light in and of itself, but only reflects the light given
from the sun. Mary, and all the saints, do the same. The glory that
marks the lives of these people does not necessarily radiate from them.
When you consider the lives of these holy people, you literally see the
glory of God reflected in their lives.

Remarkably, and yet truly, the same could and should be said of us!
Moses prayed and fasted for 40 days on the top of a mountain. You,
too, have spent a considerable time in prayer and fasting, having
withdrawn for a time. So, too, your life should begin to reflect the glory
of God. You have grown in freedom and are more intimately united
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 to God than you may have been since your Baptism. So, we must ask
ourselves, “Do people see the glory of God radiating from your life?”
“Is your life a reflection of God’s love?” “Does joy, peace, generosity,
friendship with God characterize your life?” “After these 78 days, what
has changed?” Even if you have not heroically embraced the Exodus
challenge, even if you half-heartedly followed the discipline, you still
have received enough from God to have changed significantly. “No
one, after lighting a lamp, puts it in a cellar or under a bushel, but on a
stand,” Jesus taught, “that those who enter may see the light.” You now,
are that lamp, a light for everyone to see, a light for the world. Perhaps
it is not comfortable or easy, but you have been chosen… by God… to
be a light. Live well, my friend!

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 WEEK TWELVE:
ACTION LIST

1) When Jesus was raised from the dead, he appeared

before the Apostles with the words, “Peace be with you. As
the Father has sent me, even so I send you” (John 20:21). As
we rapidly approach the end of Exodus, begin to contemplate
your own mission, with newfound freedom, to take the
message of that freedom and Jesus Christ to your colleagues,
friends and neighbors… or even your own family members.
There is no mission, there is no message, without you.

2) Pray God, you have been set free from the things
that have enslaved you. Perhaps it is time to pray for those,
like you and me, who were once enslaved by our passions.
There are countless men who struggle with pornography,
sexual addiction, alcohol, work, pride, or material goods, etc.
that need our prayers and sacrifices. Pray that, in the name of
Jesus Christ, they be set free.

3) You have “succeeded” in nearly completing a very

challenging program. But as Paul reminds us, “whoever
boasts, let them boast in the Lord” (I Corinthians 1:31). The
quickest way back to slavery is to believe your success was
yours alone.

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 DAY SEVENTY-NINE

GOD STIRS HEARTS AND MOVES SPIRITS

Exodus 35:1-36:7: “And now he called the whole assembly of the

Israelites into his presence, and told them, Here are the Lord’s
commands. You have six days before you now to work in; when
the seventh comes, you must keep it holy, since it is the sabbath,
the Lord’s day of rest; no one must do any work that day, on
pain of death, you must not even light a fire in any of your
dwelling-places on the sabbath day. Then Moses went on to tell
all the Israelites what prescriptions the Lord had given him, how
they were to set apart contributions, to be offered to the Lord
freely and with a ready heart; contributions of gold and silver
and bronze, threads of blue and purple and scarlet twice-dyed,
and lawn, and goats’ hair, and rams’ fleeces dyed red, and skins
dyed violet; acacia wood, and oil to feed lamps, spices for the
anointing-oil, and sweet-smelling incense; onyx-stones, too, and

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 jewels, to be set in the priestly mantle and its burse. If any of you
is a skilled a craftsman, he said, let him come forward to carry
out the Lord’s bidding. There is a tabernacle to be made, with its
covering and its canopy, rings and boards and poles and pegs and
sockets; an ark with poles to carry it, a throne over it, and a veil
to hang in front of it; a table with its poles and its appurtenances,
bread, too, to be set forth there; a lamp-stand on which the lights
are to rest, with its lamps and its other appurtenances, and oil to
keep the light burning; an altar for offering incense, with its poles;
oil for anointing, and incense made from spices; a screen for the
tabernacle entrance; an altar for burnt-sacrifice, with its grating of
bronze, its poles and other appurtenances; a basin with its stand;
curtains for the court, with the posts they hang from and their
sockets, a hanging for the door of the court, pegs and ropes to
make fast both the tabernacle and its enclosure; the vestments
that are worn in the service of the sanctuary, and those sacred
vestments in which Aaron and his sons will perform their priestly
office before the Lord. No sooner had the sons of Israel left
Moses’ presence, than all alike began making their contributions
to the Lord, with readiness and devotion of heart, to help build
the tabernacle that should bear record of him. Whatever was
needed for the performance of worship, or for sacred vestments,
men and women made haste to give; armlets and ear-pendants,
rings and bracelets; all the gold ware they had was set apart to
be given to the Lord. And whoever had thread of blue or purple
or scarlet twice-dyed, lawn or goats’ hair, rams’ fleeces dyed red,
or skins dyed violet, or silver, or bronze, offered them to the Lord;
and acacia wood for all its manifold uses. There were women,
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 of blue, or purple, or scarlet, or lawn, or goats’ hair, and made
them of their own accord. It was the rulers who gave onyx-stones
and jewels for the mantle and its burse, and the spices and oil
for feeding the lamps, and preparing the ointment, and making
the sweet-smelling incense. All alike, men and women, devoutly
brought their gifts, so as to speed on the work which the Lord,
through Moses, had enjoined on them; there was not one Israelite
that did not freely consecrate his offerings to the Lord’s service.
And now Moses said to the sons of Israel, Here is the name of
the man the Lord has singled out to help me, Beseleel, son of Uri,
son of Hur, of the tribe of Juda. The Lord has filled this man with
his divine spirit, making him wise, adroit, and skilful in every kind
of craftsmanship, so that he can design and execute whatever
is needed, in gold, silver, bronze, and sculptured gems, and
carpenter’s work. All the craftsman’s wit can discover the Lord has
put into his heart. Here is Oöliab, too, son of Achisamech, of the
tribe of Dan; both of these he has endowed with skill, to carry out
woodwork, and tapestry, and embroidery, with threads of blue
and purple and scarlet twice-dyed and lawn; the weaving shall be
theirs, and they shall find out new devices.

And so the work was begun, by Beseleel, and Oöliab, and all the
craftsmen to whom the Lord had given skill in their craft, so that
they should know how to make workmanlike provision for the
sanctuary’s needs, according to the prescriptions the Lord had
given. Moses summoned them, all these trained workmen who
had been endowed by the Lord with skill, and had offered their
services freely; and he handed over to them the contributions
which the sons of Israel made. Eagerly they set about their work,

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 and every morning the people brought their gifts, till at last the
workmen must needs come to Moses, and tell him, The people
are offering more than is needed. So Moses bade the crier give out
that no man or woman should offer any more for the needs of the
sanctuary; thus he put an end to the bringing of gifts, because the
contribution had already given them enough and to spare."

day 79 mediation

I f today’s passage sounds familiar, it should. These chapters, 35 to the

end of the Book in chapter 40, are an echo of chapters 25-31. These
earlier chapters become a blueprint for the building of the Tabernacle.
These pages follow the incident of the golden-calf and God is reiterating
his various commands. There is still plenty to contemplate here.

In this passage, a very interesting spiritual maxim can be gleaned. In verse

21 we read, “And they came, every one whose heart stirred him, and
every one whose spirit moved him, and brought the LORD’s offering to
be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy
garments.” Thus, God did not demand, as if a master to his slave, that
the people make personal sacrifices in order to build the Tabernacle. He
simply and profoundly “stirred their hearts” and “moved their spirit”. In
essence, he was inviting them to freely approach God and participate in
this work. There is no coercion or manipulation to provide all that was
needed for the construction of the Tabernacle.

Think back to the moment a priest or friend introduced you to the

Exodus program. It would be incorrect to say that you decided to take
up the challenge of Exodus on your own. In reality, you were responding
to God’s initiative. It was God who moved your heart. It was God who
decided that the time had come to reject mediocrity and apathy and
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 embrace the discipline of Exodus. To your credit (and in spite of your
weakness), you responded to God’s initiative. He stirred your heart and
moved your spirit because he wanted to share a greater portion of his
life with you… and you responded. You are his son and he grew tired of
all that was interfering with your relationship with him. Your love, for
some unexplainable reason, truly mattered to him and he wanted you for
himself. What kind of a man would willingly embrace these disciplines
for the sake of the disciplines themselves? The disciplines you have chosen
are a gratuitous journey to greater freedom; freedom that will allow a
more profound relationship to God. Be humbled, be of good cheer!

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 DAY EIGHTY

PERPETUAL BRIGHTNESS & HIGHEST REPOSE

Exodus 36:8-19: "o, to carry out the fashioning of the tabernacle, all
these skilful workmen made ten curtains, of twisted linen thread,
embroidered with threads of blue and purple and scarlet twice-
dyed, 9 all of the same size, twenty-eight cubits in length and four
in width. 10 Then Beseleel joined five of these to each other, and
the remaining five in the same way. 11 And on the sides of one
set of curtains, at its extreme edge, he made loops of blue cord,
and so with the other, 12 so that loop could meet loop and be
fastened to it. 13 Afterwards he made fifty gold clasps, to catch
the loops on the curtains, so as to make a single tent of them.
14 Next, he made eleven coverings of goats’ hair, to protect the
tapestry over the tabernacle. 15 The measurements of all these
coverings were the same; each was thirty cubits long and four
cubits wide. 16 He joined together first five of these coverings,

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 then the other six in their turn. 17 And he made fifty loops at
the edge of the first set of coverings, then fifty at the edge of
the other, to join them together, 18 and fifty brazen clasps, so
that the coverings would be tied together, and the whole would
form a single protecting roof. 19 He made a canopy, too, over the
tabernacle, of rams’ fleeces dyed red, and another canopy over
that of skins dyed violet."

day 80 meditation

F rom the commentary by St. Bede – “Since the number fifty [The
number by which we derive Pentecost] designates true rest in the
Holy Spirit, and a ring seems to have neither beginning nor end, and
gold is the most precious of metals, excelling all others in its brightness,
what is expressed in the fifty golden rings except the perpetual
brightness and bright perpetuity of the highest repose? And the rings
grip the loops of the curtains in such a way that one tabernacle might
be made out of them all when the glory of the heavenly kingdom
graciously pour itself into the pure minds of the faithful, so that with
the glue of such healing inspiration the church is made perfect out of
the two peoples [Jew and Gentile], or perhaps we should say out of all
Christ’s elect” (Ancient Christian Commentary, Old Testament, Vol.
III, pages 157-158).

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 DAY EIGHTY-ONE

PERFECTION FOR GOD

Exodus 36:20-34: “He made upright frames, too, of acacia wood

to support the tabernacle. Each board was ten cubits high, and
had a width of a cubit and a half; and at the sides of it, two
tenon-pieces jutted out, so that each might be mortised to the
next; all the framework of the tabernacle he made in this way.
Twenty frames were on the south, facing the midday sun, with
forty silver sockets, two to each frame, fitting on each side at
the corners, where the mortising finished. There were twenty
frames, too, on the side of the tabernacle which looked north,
with forty silver sockets, two to each frame. For the western
side of the tabernacle, looking towards the sea, he made six
frames, and two in addition, for the corners at the extreme end
of the tabernacle. These were joined together, from bottom to
top, with a single kind of fastening; it was the same with the

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 corners at each side, so that altogether there were eight frames,
with sixteen silver sockets, two at the foot of each. Then he
made five poles of acacia wood, to hold the frames together on
one side of the tabernacle, and five more to connect the frames
on the opposite side, and on the western side of the tabernacle,
looking seawards, five more still. And one pole he made that
should reach right along the frames from end to end. The
sockets he made of cast silver; the frames themselves he gilded
over, and made rings of gold through which the poles, those too
plated with gold, could pass."

day 81 meditation

T hese divine instructions, which we have seen previously, are

now recorded in past tense. They indicate that God directions
for the assembly of the Tabernacle are now to be followed with
“scrupulous fidelity” to each and every directive and meticulous detail.
Obviously -and demanded in the work that Bezalel and his men were
accomplishing- God expects perfection. Perfection – a word that
frightens most modern men. We are more inclined to hide in the
groundless excuses provided by our modern culture. Perfection? That
is for the saints! Perfection? That is for the cloistered monk! Perfection?
Why saddle a man with such unrealistic and unattainable goals?

But, brothers, that is the expectation of the Church! “The human

person participates in the light and power of the divine Spirit. By his
reason, he is capable of understanding the order of things established
by the Creator. By free will, he is capable of directing himself toward
his true good. He finds his perfection “in seeking and loving what is
true and good.” Reflected in this passage from paragraph 1704 of the
Catechism of the Catholic Church, is the same meticulous detail that
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 was required in the building of the Tabernacle: “understanding the
order of things established by the Creator”. The Church reminds us
that we must seek and love “what is true and good” in order to achieve
perfection. St. Francis de Sales says it more simply: “Do you desire
perfection? Then you are already perfect!” We are to strive for Christian
perfection until the day we die, without exception. Do not despair; it is
the grace of God that makes perfection possible.

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 DAY EIGHTY-TWO

THE ARTISAN OF THE SOUL

Exodus 37:1-16: “Besellel also made an ark of acacia wood, two and
a half cubits long, with a breadth and height of one and a half
cubits, and gave it a covering and a lining of pure gold, putting a
coping of gold all round the top of it, and four rings, cast in gold,
at its four corners, two on each of the flanks. Then he made poles
of acacia wood, gilded over, and passed them through the rings
on the sides of the ark, so as to carry it. He made a throne, too,
or shrine, of pure gold, two and a half cubits long, one and a half
cubits broad, and two cherubs of pure beaten gold, which he
set up on either side of the throne, each of them at its extreme
edge. And these two cherubs that stood at the extreme edges of
the throne overshadowed it with their outspread wings, facing
towards it and towards each other. And he made a table of acacia
wood, two cubits long, a cubit broad, and a cubit and a half in
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 height; this he gilded with pure gold, and made a rim of gold
about its edge, with an embossed coping four inches high, and a
second coping of gold over that. Then he cast four rings and fixed
them to the four corners of the table, one by each leg close to
the coping; and he put poles through them, that would carry the
table; these poles, too, he made of acacia wood, and gilded them
over. So with the appurtenances of the table, cups, and bowls, and
dishes, and goblets for pouring out libations; all were of pure gold."

day 82 mediation

A gain, the meticulous and highly detailed divine plans given here are
implemented by the hand of Bezalel and his co-workers. What an
immense and weighty responsibility! Bezalel would forever be known to
the Israelites as an accomplished artisan, an archetype for the builder or
craftsman. Bezalel will be forever associated with the Tabernacle – the
Tabernacle, built for God, would forever become his legacy.

Perhaps today we should give ample thought to our own legacy.

For many of us, our legacy will not be seen in towering buildings or
magnificent careers, important as these are to us as men. Nonetheless,
our true and lasting legacy will be seen in the people around us. Mentors
of young people, our own sons and daughters for example, are truly
artisans of a unique and profound type. Long after our careers have
come to an end and all that we have built has been demolished or
ruined by rust or age, our family or our friends will live on. By our love,
they will have received our own imprint and we will live in them. Years
of work with young men, for example, has revealed the single most
important thing young men desire: more time with their fathers. Even

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 as Hollywood, the government and the culture have work feverishly to
destroy the bond between fathers and their children, young people still
desire a meaningful relationships with their fathers. This is indisputable.
Perhaps it will take the work of reconciliation or a re-familiarization,
but you, as an artisan of the human soul, are capable of such work. You
should never question your worth as a father, friend or priest.

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 DAY EIGHTY-THREE

HE WILL SET ME HIGH UPON A ROCK

Exodus 37:17-29: “And he made a lamp-stand of pure beaten gold,

with branches coming out from its stem, all with their cups and
bosses and fleurs-de-lis. Six branches stood about the stem, three
on either side; and on each branch there were three cups shaped
like almond-flowers, then a boss, then a fleur-de-lis, balanced by
three cups and a boss and a fleur-de-lis on the opposite branch;
such was the fashion of all the six branches that came out of
the stem. But the stem itself had four cups, shaped like almond-
flowers, each with its boss and its fleur-de-lis; there were six
branches altogether coming out of a single stem, and under each
pair of them there was an additional boss. The bosses and the
branches were all of a piece with the main stem, and all alike were
of pure beaten gold. He made seven lamps, too, with snuffers
and trays for the burnt wick, all of pure gold. The whole weight of

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 the lamp-stand, together with its appurtenances, was a talent of
gold. And he made an altar of acacia wood for burning incense,
a cubit square, with a height of two cubits; it had horns at the
corners. And he covered the whole with pure gold, the grate
and the walls around it and the horns too. It had a rim of gold
about it, and close under the rim two gold rings on either side, for
putting poles in, so that the altar could be carried. These poles,
too, were of acacia wood, gilded over. And he made oil for the
hallowing ointment, and incense of pure spices, with all the art of
a perfumer."

day 83 meditation

S uch scrupulous detail! So much treasure and labor given to the

construction of the Tabernacle! Surely, the Israelites would become
fatigued and wonder if all the effort was worth the project. Yet, it must
be kept in mind that the Tent of the Tabernacle would eventually be used
as the blueprint for the Temple that Solomon would build. It would be
nothing less than the dwelling place of God on earth – its sacredness
could never be comprehended by mortal men. Even more, the Temple,
itself, would be a blueprint of sorts for the ultimate dwelling of God
among men: “Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three
days I will raise it up.’” Then John records the ominous revelation: “[He]
spoke of the temple of his body” (John 2:19).

With this in mind, let us contemplate Psalm 27:

“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be
afraid? When evildoers assail me, uttering slanders against me,
my adversaries and foes, they shall stumble and fall.
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 “Though a host encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.

“One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after;
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my
life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his
temple.

For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will

conceal me under the cover of his tent, he will set me high
upon a rock.”

Jesus is the rock upon which we can place all our weight. A rock that
cannot be moved or shaken. A rock that is dependable. Learn to trust
him more and more. His promises are true. There may be times when
we are confused or when life does not make sense. It is then that we
must seek to “dwell in the house of the Lord al the days of our life” and
stand securely and without worry on the Rock who is Jesus Christ.

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 DAY EIGHTY-FOUR

WE WILL SERVE THE LORD!

Exodus 38:21-39:21: “Here is an account, drawn up at Moses’

command by the priest Ithamar, son of Aaron, with the help
of the Levites. It shews what was spent on the tabernacle that
bears record of the Lord, when all the work was completed, at
the Lord’s command given through Moses, by Beseleel, son of
Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Juda. (He had Oöliab, too, son
of Achisamech, of the tribe of Dan, to help him; he too was a
famous craftsman in wood, he too could make tapestry and
embroidery from threads of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and
lawn.) The sum of gold spent in building the sanctuary, provided
by the contribution, was twenty-nine talents and seven hundred
and thirty sicles, by sanctuary reckoning. Offerings, too, were
made by those who were registered, six hundred and three
thousand five hundred and fifty men under arms, from the age

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 of twenty upwards; thus there were also a hundred talents of
silver, from which they made the sockets of the holy place, and
those of the entrance, where the veil hangs; a hundred sockets
were made out of a hundred talents, one talent for each socket.
They used besides a thousand seven hundred and seventy-five
sicles over the capitals of the posts, and the posts themselves
where these were plated with silver. Seventy-two thousand
talents and four hundred sicles of bronze were offered, and of
these they made the sockets of the approach to the tabernacle
that bears record of the Lord, and the brazen altar with its
grating, and all the appurtenances used at it; and the sockets
round the court and at the entrance to the court, and the pegs
which held up the tabernacle and the enclosure round about.

Besellel made vestments, too, of blue and purple, scarlet and

lawn, for Aaron to wear when he ministered in the holy place,
as the Lord had prescribed them to Moses. He made a mantle
of gold and blue and purple and scarlet twice-dyed, and of
twisted linen thread, all embroidered work; to do this, he must
needs cut up gold leaf and spin it into threads, so that it could
be worked into the rest of the coloured woof. At the top, on
either side, he made two shoulder-pieces joined together,
and a band of the same colours, as the Lord had prescribed to
Moses. He also provided two onyx-stones, closely set in gold,
and inscribed by a gem-carver with the names of Israel’s sons;
these, according to the prescription which the Lord had given
Moses, he let into the sides of the mantle, to keep the sons of
Israel in memory. He made a burse, too, of embroidered work,
of the same pattern as the mantle itself, of gold and blue and

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 purple and scarlet twice-dyed, and twisted linen thread, a folded
square of a palm’s breadth either way. And he set in it four rows
of stones; in the first row a sardius, a topaz, and an emerald;
in the second, a carbuncle, a sapphire, and a jasper-stone; in
the third, a jacynth, an agate, and an amethyst; in the fourth, a
chrysolite, an onyx-stone, and a beryl; all the rows were closely
set in gold. And these stones were inscribed with the names
of the twelve tribes of Israel, one on each. On the burse, they
put chains of pure gold, fastened together, and two hooks, and
two rings, all of gold. The rings they set on either side of the
burse, so that the two gold chains could hang from them, and
these fitted the hooks which stood out from the corners of the
mantle. They met before and behind in such a way that mantle
and burse were linked together, tied to the strongly fastened
rings of the band by a blue cord, so that they should not hang
loose, and come apart; so the Lord had prescribed to Moses.
They made a tunic, too, to go with the mantle, all of blue, with
an opening in the middle of it at the top, that had a woven
border round it."

day 84 meditation

P ersevere, men, we will soon be coming to the end of our

meditations. Today, we see a pattern of particular interest. In a
nation of Hebrew people, hundreds of thousands strong, God returns
over and over to a small group of chosen men: Moses, Joshua, the
Levites under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest,
Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur and his collaborators, and Oholiab
the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.

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 This “selection” of men can be seen in most Catholic parishes around
the world. It seems as if God knows who will respond to his call… and
who will not. Just as he uses the men mentioned above for most of
his important work, he will do the same in our time, using those men
who willingly come forward to accomplish the work of God and his
Church. We should strive to be the one upon which God depends. Of
course, God could accomplish all at hand by his own designs, he need
not depend on mere men to accomplish anything. However, he chooses
to include his sons in all his activity.

Eventually, Joshua will replace Moses as leader of the people. In the

24th chapter of the Book of Joshua, we hear the heroic proclamation of
Joshua: “Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and
in faithfulness; put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the
River, and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.

And if you be unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you
will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond
the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as
for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Let us, too, “put away the gods” we formerly served. Like the Hebrew
people, we have come too far to return to our former ways and to the
servitude of the gods we once served. With all the struggles and trials
yet to come ever in mind, let it be truly said of us, “as for me and my
house, we will serve the LORD!”

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 DAY EIGHTY-FIVE

THEY HAD DONE IT!

Exodus 39:22-31 “Underneath, round the skirt of it, there were

ornaments of blue thread and purple and scarlet, and twisted
linen thread, pomegranate-shaped; bells, too, of pure gold,
which they put in between the pomegranates all round, at the
edge of the tunic; first a golden bell, then a pomegranate. Such,
according to the prescription the Lord had given Moses, was to
be the dress of the priest when he went in to perform his sacred
office. They made, too, woven robes of lawn for Aaron and his
sons, and mitres of lawn with rings about them, breeches, too,
woven of fine linen thread, and a girdle of twisted linen thread,
embroidered with threads of blue and purple and scarlet twice-
dyed, as the Lord had prescribed to Moses. They also made a
plate of pure gold, a thing most sacred, inscribed with all the
engraver’s skill, with the words, Set apart for the Lord; and this,

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 according to the prescription the Lord gave Moses, they fastened
with a blue cord to the mitre. So the sons of Israel finished
making the tabernacle, and all that covered in the sacred record,
carrying out all the prescriptions the Lord had given to Moses.

day 85 meditation

T he days of completion are drawing near. In the Book of Exodus,

the work of the Tabernacle is also coming to an end. We read,
“According to all that the LORD had commanded Moses, so the
people of Israel had done all the work. And Moses saw all the work,
and behold, they had done it; as the LORD had commanded, so had
they done it. And Moses blessed them.” They had done it!

Five days remain of your Exodus journey. You have done all your work,
“according to all that the Lord had commanded.” Be filled with joy but
be ever vigilant! The enemy has been watching and has been waiting.
As a priest once said, “Satan is a fallen spirit of Archangelic power.”
Unimaginable. He is clever beyond imagining, directing a war against
the people of God fueled by limitless rage and hate. Do not be deceived
by his cunning. Pray the Holy Name of Jesus for protection against this
ancient foe.

The time has come to begin imaging life beyond Exodus. Our team will
assist you, but the way ahead must be carefully discerned. Jesus made
this promise: “The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will
be scattered, every man to his home… I have said this to you, that in
me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of
good cheer, I have overcome the world.

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 DAY EIGHTY-SIX

NEW CREATION

Exodus 40:1-38 “And now the Lord said to Moses, When the
first day of the first month comes, set up the tabernacle that
is to bear record of me, and put the ark in it, and screen the
ark with the veil. Then bring in the table, and set out due
offerings there; the lamp-stand, too, must be in its place,
with lamps on it, and the golden altar upon which incense is
burnt, there before the ark that bears record of me. Stretch
out the hanging at the entrance to the tabernacle, and set
down before it the altar for burnt-sacrifice, with the basin
there, full of water, between altar and tabernacle; and
screen off the court and its entrance with the hangings.
Then bring out the anointing-oil, and hallow by unction with
it the tabernacle and its appurtenances; the altar for burnt-
sacrifice and all that belongs to it, and the washing-basin

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 with its stand; all must be consecrated with the anointing-
oil, to be holiness itself. Bring Aaron, too, and his sons to the
doors of the tabernacle that bears record of me, and, when
they have washed, clothe them with the sacred vestments in
which they are to minister to me, and anoint them to be my
priests for ever. Moses did as the Lord bade him; and on the
first day of the first month, in this second year of wandering,
the tabernacle was set up. To set it up, Moses must first
dispose the frames, with their sockets and poles, and erect
the posts; then he spread the tapestry over the tabernacle,
and covered it, as the Lord bade him, with the canopy. He
put the tablets of the law in the ark, and passed the poles
through at the base of it, and fixed the throne above it.
Then, bringing the ark into the tabernacle, he spread the veil
in front of it, in fulfilment of the Lord’s command. In front
of the veil, at the northern end of the tabernacle that bore
record of the Lord, he put down the table, and on it, as the
Lord bade him, he set out the consecrated loaves. On the
south side of the tabernacle, opposite the table, he set up
the lamp-stand, with all its lamps in position as the Lord
bade him. And before the veil, still under the tabernacle
roof, he placed the golden altar, on which, at the Lord’s
command, he burnt incense made from spices. And now he
must hang the screen at the entrance of the tabernacle, and
by the door of the tabernacle must stand the altar for burnt-
sacrifice, on which he offered the victims and sacrificial
gifts which the Lord had prescribed. He put the basin, too,
between the tabernacle and the altar, filling it with water,
so that Moses and Aaron and Aaron’s sons could wash their
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 hands and feet whenever they would enter the tabernacle
that bore record of the covenant, or approach the altar, as
the Lord had commanded him. He also set up the court
round the tabernacle and the altar, and hung the screen at
the entrance to it. When all was done, a cloud covered the
tabernacle, and it was filled with the brightness of the Lord’s
presence; nor could Moses enter the tabernacle that bore
record of the covenant, so thick the cloud that spread all
about it, so radiant was the Lord’s majesty; all was wrapped
in cloud. Whenever the cloud lifted from the tabernacle,
the Israelites would muster and set out on the march, and
while it hung there, they halted. The divine cloud by day, the
divine fire by night, still brooded over the tabernacle for all
Israel to see it, wherever they halted on their journey."

day 86 meditation

W e cannot do better, as the Book of Exodus comes to an end,

than to reflect on the words of Theodoret of Cyr: “Why did
God command Moses to erect the tabernacle on the first day of the
first month? Because at that time he created the world. The sprouting
of the trees attests to this fact. For the Scripture says, “Let the earth
sprout forth grass for fodder, and sow seed according to its kind and its
likeness, and fruit-bearing trees that produce fruit, with its seed within
it in its likeness, according to its kind upon the earth.” When spring
begins, the meadows bloom, the fields grow like waves, and the trees
germinate their fruit. So too in this very season God set Israel free from
slavery under the Egyptians and the archangel Gabriel brought the
holy virgin the good news of her mysterious childbearing. In this same
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 season the Lord Christ underwent his saving passion. Most fittingly, the
Lord God of all ordered the tabernacle to be erected on the first day of
the first month because it was the image of the entire world, and also
so that the people would prepare for the feast of Passover, which the
law commanded the Jews to celebrate as the first feast. At that time,
they were going to celebrate this feast for the first time in the desert, for
this was the second year after their deliverance from slavery” (Ancient
Christian Commentary, Old Testament, Vol. III).

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 DAY EIGHTY-SEVEN

SPIRITUAL AWARENESS

I Corinthians 10:1-6, 10:12 “Let me remind you, brethren, of this. Our

fathers were hidden, all of them, under the cloud, and found a
path, all of them, through the sea; 2 all alike, in the cloud and
in the sea, were baptized into Moses’ fellowship. 3 They all ate
the same prophetic food,4 and all drank the same prophetic
drink, watered by the same prophetic rock which bore them
company, the rock that was Christ. 5 And for all that, God was
ill pleased with most of them; see how they were laid low in the
wilderness. 6 It is we that were foreshadowed in these events.
We were not to set our hearts, as some of them set their hearts,
on forbidden things. 12 and it means that he who thinks he
stands firmly should beware of a fall."

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 day 87 meditation

T he Israelites were under the cloud, which is the presence of God,

and they were baptized, though not sacramentally, but as a figure of
Baptism. In Exodus, the Israelites pass from slavery to Egypt and Pharaoh
through the waters, journeying toward the Promised Land. In Christian
Baptism, we pass from slavery to sin, through the waters, journeying
toward heaven. In the desert, on that pilgrimage in the midst of trials and
encounters of God's grace and providence, the people were strengthened
by bread from heaven and water from the spiritual rock. In the Christian
life, the sacraments of Christ's Body and Blood, our spiritual food and
drink, strengthen us amidst the trials of temptation, asceticism, and
worldly desires. Just as the rock was struck and water flowed for the
people, so too was Christ's side struck and the blood and water, the
Sacraments of the Church, flowed from His side.

Despite all of the signs and the presence of God in their midst, the
people reverted to idol worship, craved earthly food and pleasures,
sought solace in the world rather than God, and complained against
the trials that were to work for their sanctification (Hebrews 12:7-11).
All of these Israelites, died, never seeing the Promised Land, despite the
figures of the sacraments and having dwelt in the presence of God. The
Christian life consists in perseverance, never to be considered complete
until the entrance into our Promised Land, the heavenly Jerusalem. The
sacramental life is vital but insufficient. We must exercise faith with
perseverance through trial in order to finally reach our homeland (1 Peter
1:6-9). Remember this warning so as not to be presumptuous and fall.

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 DAY 87:
ACTION ITEM

Sharpen your examination of conscience.

Practice this examine every night. This should
consist of two parts: a general examination
and a particular examination. In the general
examination, write down general sins and faults
into which you are susceptible. This is the shield.
The particular examination is the sword. This is
that fault or weakness that needs to be rooted
out and attacked each day. Often, this is not the
most annoying sin, but rather the most dire. Sins
against charity are always more dire than sins of
weakness. Recalling this examination every day
(and it is best if you have it written down) will
help you continue the fight and persevere while
simultaneously growing in holiness. Through this
examine, you may eventually find that more things
need to be added to your general examination
and perhaps the main object of your particular
examination will change after some length of time.

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 DAY EIGHTY-EIGHT

NEW LIFE

Romans 10:8-13 “And first, I offer thanks to my God through Jesus

Christ for all of you, you whose faith is so renowned throughout
the world. The God to whom I address the inner worship of my
heart, while I preach the gospel of his Son, is my witness how
constantly I make mention of you, never failing to ask, when I
am at my prayers, that somehow, in God’s Providence, I may be
granted at last an opportunity of visiting you. I long to see you, in
the hope that I may have some spiritual gift to share with you, so
as to strengthen your resolve; or rather, so that the faith we find
in each other, you and I, may be an encouragement to you and to
me as well. I should be sorry, brethren, if you were left in doubt
that (although hitherto I have always been prevented) I have
often planned to visit you, and to be able to claim some harvest
among you, as I can among the Gentiles elsewhere.

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 day 88 meditation

E very worthwhile thing in this life comes with a hefty price.

Excellence in a hobby comes at the price of diligent practice and
time. A great job comes at the price of “paying your dues”, going the
“extra mile” and suffering the humiliations that come with mistakes
only performed by the inexperienced. Marriage comes at the price of
settling down and losing the freedoms that come with the single life.
Priesthood comes at the price of a life without a wife and biological
children and the comforts of family life. Yet, each of these things yields
a sacred joy that makes life a robust adventure, filling your chest with
the air of accomplishment and meaning.

St. Paul says in this excerpt from his letter to the Romans that our
believing in Christ with our hearts justifies us and confessing Christ on
our lips saves us. Believing in our hearts and confessing with our lips
the kingship of Christ is not a one-and-done activity. It is a whole life
lived, changed by the fact of Christ and his saving work. Confessing
Christ to be our God and placing ourselves confidently under his
banner, comes at a price. It comes at the price of doing what is right,
even when it is easier, and at times, more enjoyable to do what is
wrong. It comes at the price of our idols and addictions, our creature
comforts and our ego. It comes at the price of our pride.

But this life in Christ is reveled in with an unshakeable and

unconquerable joy. As the Exodus journey draws to a close, your new
life is one enjoyed in freedom. Now live like a free man! Enjoy life as it
is meant to be lived. Enjoy life and its gifts as they are at the service of
true joy. You have the dignity of a son of God.

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 DAY 88:
ACTION ITEM

Sharpen your examination of conscience.

Practice this examine every night. This should
consist of two parts: a general examination
and a particular examination. In the general
examination, write down general sins and faults
into which you are susceptible. This is the shield.
The particular examination is the sword. This is
that fault or weakness that needs to be rooted
out and attacked each day. Often, this is not the
most annoying sin, but rather the most dire. Sins
against charity are always more dire than sins of
weakness. Recalling this examination every day
(and it is best if you have it written down) will
help you continue the fight and persevere while
simultaneously growing in holiness. Through this
examine, you may eventually find that more things
need to be added to your general examination
and perhaps the main object of your particular
examination will change after some length of time.

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 DAY EIGHTY-NINE

THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF THE VIRTUES

Philippians 3:17 - 4:1 "Be content, brethren, to follow my example,

and mark well those who live by the pattern we have given them;
Then, O my brethren, so greatly loved and longed for, all my
delight and prize, stand firmly in the Lord, beloved, as I bid you."

day 89 meditation

Y ou have experienced freedom like never before – that is the

heavenly life. One day, our transformation will be complete, and
we will receive a “glorious body”, completely ordered to truth, beauty,
and goodness. For now, we stand firm and live the way we were made
to live. WE WERE BORN FOR THIS.

The words of St. Paul are a powerful encouragement for us who are
still on the Way of this life, especially for those who are approaching
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 the end of Exodus. More importantly, they are fitting for those who
are about to begin Day 91, the rest of life after Exodus. We have all
lived as “enemies of the cross of Christ” every time we have sinned, but
now, we are invited into a more glorious life – a life oriented toward
heaven. This is the life of virtue. You have struggled and fought to
move beyond earthly things, things that hold us down and keep our
eyes turned inward. But as you have seen, the virtuous life, that is,
developing habits that order our passions and direct us toward God,
is the life worth living. You have developed many virtues throughout
the course of these 90 days, some that you may not even notice yet. St.
Paul exhorts us to “stand firm thus in the Lord.” Do not give up! There
is only one day to go…and then the beginning. The virtues that God
has fostered in you will not go away, unless you let them. Pray that his
power will keep you vigilant and focused on the end goal.

DAY 89:
ACTION ITEM

Soon, you are going to be finished with Exodus. You will be

relieved of your many fasts. Chances are, you are thinking of that first
cold beer, soft drink, huge feast, sporting event, etc.

Plan for it. Write it out. Set it up. How do you intend to sanctify your
first indulgence? Who do you intend to share it with? How will it make
you a better man, priest, husband, father, son, or brother? How will it be
at the service (not the enemy) of your newfound freedom?

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 DAY 90
2 Timothy 4:7-8 "I have fought the good fight; I have finished the
race; I have redeemed my pledge; I look forward to the prize that
is waiting for me, the prize I have earned. The Lord, the judge
whose award never goes amiss, will grant it to me when that day
comes; to me, yes, and all those who have learned to welcome
his appearing."

day 90 meditation

W ell done! Welcome to an elite group of Catholic men who

have embraced the challenge of Exodus and have succeeded in
running the race! Chances are, unless you are a veteran or had some
other difficult challenge, this very well may be one of the most defining
exercises you have ever completed. The reward is sweet: a greater
freedom than you may have ever enjoyed previously to your work in
Exodus. Feel it. Contemplate it. Know it. Teach it. And, by all means,
protect it! Most of us are privileged to live in an era of great wealth and
prosperity; even though there are some who would begrudge modern
man and ridicule him for his lifestyle, most of us thank God for our

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 blessings. Yet, we must ever keep in mind the stark and frank warning
of the Apostle Paul: “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify
the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the
Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these
are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would.
But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law [By this, St.
Paul means freedom]. Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication,
impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger,
selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and
the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such
things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

DAY 90:
ACTION ITEM

The great Desert Fathers often taught that the most

important element of the spiritual life is AWARENESS.
To abandon Exodus and return to former ways is to make
accommodations for the flesh - and you will find yourself were you
began: 90 days ago. Be aware of your spiritual sensitivities. Use your
freedom wisely. Many who have completed Exodus are fully aware
that the disciplines of Exodus may not be as extreme as one may
have believed in the beginning. Craft your “life after Exodus” using
the model provided for you in Day 91. Be intentional about your
freedom and your new life in Christ Jesus. Enjoy a bit of reward, but
consider keeping the disciplines of Exodus, but to a lesser degree.
Congratulations, brother, enjoy your well-deserved freedom!

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 DAY 91 NOW WHAT?

M en nearing the completion of a very challenging regimen of

prayer, asceticism, and fraternity begin looking forward to “life
after Exodus 90". Many men are surprised that exiting Exodus after
90 days can be much more challenging than entering Exodus at day
one. Also of note is the realization that, perhaps, the daily regimen
of Exodus seems more in keeping with the Christian life than not.
Whatever one’s personal experience, no man wants to lose what he has
gained from this experience.

Using the metaphor of a commercial jet, consider the past 90 days

as barreling down the runway at ever increasing speed - a speed fast
enough to raise thousands of pounds of steel, machinery and cargo into
the air. At day 90, wheels are up and the jet roars into the sky. All is
well! However, one must be cautious as mechanical failure, wind sheers,
pilot error, computer failure, mid-air collisions, or even terrorists, can
bring the jet crashing down again. Celebrate lifting off the tarmac, but
be cautious that nothing sabotages your success!

There is a man-crisis in the Church amidst our post-Christian, secular

age. The only way forward is for the faithful remnant to commit to the
fundamentals of our ancient faith: prayer, asceticism, and brotherhood.
You’ve completed the program, but you’ve only just begun.

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 ACTION ITEMS

Maintain: We urge you to maintain the fraternity that you have built
and suggest meeting regularly as the method to hold one another
accountable, preserve interior freedom and use your fraternity’s
manpower for the good of others. Consider meeting weekly into the
future.

Own: The origin of Exodus 90 is the spirituality and pastoral

experience of a priest. It’s organic growth is by the power of the Spirit
and the passion of laymen all around the world. Own the future of the
program. Spread the message of freedom unknown by so many good
men today. Here’s a few ways to do so: Write an article about your
experience on your parish website or bulletin. Take promo materials to
your local men’s conference. Buy an advertisement in your local paper
or on the radio for Exodus 90. Network with key influencers in your
area about making an Exodus themselves. Invest in the needs of this
grassroots program to improve it for future participants. Feel free to
reach out to us at email@thosecatholicmen.com if you have questions
or need guidance. You’ll find that we aren’t your typical, cautious
Church organization; we’re a fraternity that prides itself on the maxim:
“Things are easier done than said.”

> Visit exodus90.com/media for promo materials <

Mentor: Consider launching another fraternity with men you know

who are looking for a way out of their sin. With your first Exodus

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 under your belt, you are more than capable of leading a new fraternity.
Refer to “Appendix II Leading an Exodus Fraternity” for more practical
guidelines for doing so. You will find, if you haven’t already, that
spiritual fatherhood is one of the most enriching experiences of the
masculine life.

Advent and Lent: Consider taking on the regimen for future liturgical
seasons, especially Advent and Lent. This is an extremely common
practice among previous Exodus 90 participants, and can be particularly
helpful in encountering the core mysteries of our faith each year.

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 Appendix I

From the Church & Saints:

ENCOURAGEMENT

H
appily, the Church is filled with men who have come before
us and have struggled just as we have, many of whom we
honor today as great saints. They have left a patrimony of
wisdom, grace and practical advice which can benefit anyone striving
for perfection in the spiritual life. We offer but a small portion of the
great wealth of experience they left for us.

Saint Augustine: Confessions, Book 10, Paragraph 40: “On your

exceedingly great mercy rests all my hope. Give what you command,
and command whatever you will. You order us to practice continence. A
certain writer tells us, ‘I knew that no one can be continent except by
God’s gift, and that it is already a mark of wisdom to recognize whose
gift this is’ (Wisdom 8:21). By continence the scattered elements of the
self are collected and brought back into the unity from which we have
slid away into dispersion; for anyone who loves something else along
with you, but does not love it for your sake, loves you less. O Love,
ever burning, never extinguished, O Charity, my God, set me on fire!
You command continence: give what you command, and then command
whatever you will” (Boulding, Maria, trans; The Confessions; New City
Press; Hyde Park, New York; 1997).
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 Commentary: Here we have the great liberating breakthrough
discovered by St. Augustine and most of the Saints of the church.
Restated simply, “God, and only God, grants deliverance.” There is
NO other way. Men have an inborn pride that tells him that he, and
he alone, must overcome his faults and his failures. There is no truth
in this. If one is to have real and life-giving freedom, he must turn to
God, as St. Augustine learned, and rely upon him for his deliverance.
Yet, a man will, even with this knowledge, rely again and again, upon
his own inadequate power. His power is inadequate as, following the
fall of man and his subsequent redemption, his nature remains corrupt.
He will hear St. Augustine’s maxim, and will continuously fail because
he will try to overcome his weakness on his own – an impossibility. A
man will disregard the words of St. Augustine to his own peril.

Saint Peter: “…it is better to suffer for doing right, if that should be
God’s will, than for doing wrong.” (I Peter 3:15-17)

Commentary: Here is St. Peter’s point: No matter who he is, it is

plight of man that he must suffer. There is simply no escape. Yet, God
allows us a remarkable choice: we may either suffer for “doing right”
and, as we have all experienced, striving for perfection and virtue will
entail a good amount of suffering. Or we can accept the alternative:
suffer for “doing wrong” and, for those who are enslaved to unchastity
or many other ungodly pursuits, no description of suffering for “doing
wrong” is necessary.

Jean Cardinal Danielou: “There is something else for which the angels
can envy mankind – the fact that man can share in the Passion of Christ”
(The Presence of God; Helicon Press; Baltimore, Maryland, 53).

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 Hebrews 2:14: “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood,
[Jesus] himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death
he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong
bondage.”

Commentary: In other words, since the time of Eden, mankind has

been afraid of “dying to self ” which has resulted in his carnal captivity.
In tackling a challenge such as chastity, it is imperative that the subject
cast himself upon the Rock who is Christ and lay claim to the victory
he won for all men. He is the champion of freedom. No freedom will
be realized without him. This can never be forgotten or neglected.

I Corinthians 7:10: “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to

salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death.”

Commentary: The truth of St. Paul’s statement and its benefit to men
is enormous. St. Paul tells us that “godly grief ” or guilt, is necessary
and good. Guilt is about the evil that we have done. Even though
Hollywood has mocked Catholic guilt for years, guilt is a guarantee
that, when we fail in some way, we will strive to make things right.
For example, if a friend were to steal $100 from your wallet, it is
guilt that ensures the money will be returned to you. On the other
hand, “worldly grief ” or shame, is toxic. Shame is about who we are.
When a man fails and he literally hates himself or “beats himself up”
and cannot forgive himself, he has succumbed to shame. The Evil
One uses shame against us to his great success. Shame should be
acknowledge and rooted out. One cannot embrace shame and the
Mercy of God simultaneously. Imagine the legion of men who have
discovered pornography or unchastity at a very early age, had an illicit
sexual encounter, or committed some grievous sin when he is unable
to understand the consequences of his actions, and is now consumed
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 with a toxic shame. Shame is the single most destructive agent working
against a man and his self-mastery.

Ecclesiastes 12:14: “For God will bring every deed into judgment, with
every secret thing, whether good or evil.”

Commentary: Something to contemplate and always keep in mind.

St. Ignatius of Loyola: (On the necessity of brotherhood): “But I

also hope that in your common life you will find a great mutual help.
In it you will find a brother ready to wait upon a fallen companion, to
sustain the wavering, to stimulate the laggard by word and example,
so that, “ministering the same [grace] one to another” (I Peter 4:10),
you prepare yourselves to receive fresh graces from the Father, since
wherever two or three are gathered together to ask a favor it will be
granted, as Truth Itself has promised” (Letters of St. Ignatius of Loyola;
Young, William J., Translator; Loyola Press; 1959).

Gaudium et spes: “The whole of man’s history has been the story of
dour combat with the powers of evil, stretching, so our Lord tells us,
from the very dawn of history until the last day. Finding himself in the
midst of the battlefield man has to struggle to do what is right, and it
is at great cost to himself, and aided by God’s grace, that he succeeds in
achieving his own inner integrity” (Catechism of the Catholic Church,
2nd Edition; Libera Editrice Vaticana 1997; 37:2).

St. John of the Cross: “Would that men might come at last to see
that it is quite impossible to reach the thicket of the riches and wisdom
of God except by first entering the thicket of much suffering, in such
a way that the soul finds there its consolation and desire. The soul that
longs for divine wisdom chooses first, and in truth, to enter the thicket
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 of the cross” (Liturgy of the Hours; Vol. I; Catholic Book Publishing
Corp; New York; 1975).

St. Thomas Aquinas: “Thomas Aquinas taught that one of the

purposes of fasting was… to bridle the lusts of the flesh, wherefore
the Apostle says (2 Cor. 6:5, 6): ‘In fasting, in chastity,’ since fasting
is the guardian of chastity. For, according to Jerome, ‘Venus is cold
when Ceres and Bacchus are not there,’ that is to say, lust is cooled by
abstinence in meat and drink…The same is declared by Augustine in a
sermon, ‘Fasting cleanses the soul, raises the mind, subjects one’s flesh
to the spirit…scatters the clouds of concupiscence, quenches the fire of
lust, kindles the true light of chastity’” (Rev. T. G. Morrow; Achieving
Chastity; http://www.cfalive.com/resources/book-previews/achieving-
chastity/; 2006; p. 31).

Dorotheos of Gaza: “But we are men who have no patience and

no desire for a little labor and no desire to brace ourselves to accept
anything with humility. Therefore we are crushed by our difficulties.
The more we run away from temptations, the more they weigh us
down and the less are we able to drive them away” (Dorotheos of Gaza,
Discourses and Sayings, Cistercian Publications 1977, p. 194).

St. Ignatius of Loyola: (Twelfth Rule, Rules for Discernment):

“The enemy is like a woman, weak in the face of opposition, but
correspondingly strong when not opposed. In a quarrel with a man,
it is natural for a woman to lose heart and run away when he faces
up to her; on the other hand, if the man begins to be afraid and to
give ground, her rage, vindictiveness, and fury overflow and know no
limit. In the same way, it is typical for the enemy to collapse and lose
heart, his assaults turning tail, when a man who is training himself in
spirituality faces up to the enemy’s assaults, doing the precise opposite
to what is suggested. On the other hand, if the [man] begins to feel
panic and lose heart at these assaults, there is no animal on earth so
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 savage as the enemy of our human nature in the ever-growing malice
with which he carries out his evil plan” (The Spiritual Exercises of Saint
Ignatius of Loyola, Source Books; Trabuco Canyon, California; 1963).

Temptations
Karl Rahner: “The spiritual significance of every great temptation is
that by conquering it a man can add cubits to his moral stature; and he
will arouse himself to do so, only by a vivid realization through faith
that his battle is on the plane of the eternal, not the temporal, and that
eternity is the matter at stake... Faith must be his armor, and an intense
love of God his spear and his shield” (Rahner, Karl; On Prayer; The
Liturgical Press; Collegeville, Minnesota, 1993; p. 120).

Karl Rahner: “Let us never say in temptation, ‘I cannot resist;’

let us rather turn with renewed faith and revived love to God, and
say, ‘I know that Thou can save me.’ Let us not say despairingly to
ourselves: ‘I cannot live without this pleasure or that;’ let us rather lift
our voice in an earnest, persistent, reiterated prayer: ‘Lord, without
Thee, I cannot live.’” (Rahner, Karl; On Prayer; The Liturgical Press;
Collegeville, Minnesota, 1993; p. 149).

Dorotheos of Gaza: “Those who go on doing their work when

they are in trouble, putting up with their temptations with patience
and humility, come through unharmed. But if they get distressed and
downcast, seeking the reasons for everything, tormenting themselves
and being annoyed with themselves instead of helping themselves,
they do themselves harm” (Dorotheos of Gaza, Discourses and Sayings;
Cistercian Publications, 1977; p. 194).

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton: “Considering the infirmity and corrupt

nature, which would over-power the spirit of grace, and the enormity
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 of the offense to which the least indulgence would lead me, in the
anguish of my soul, shuddering to offend my adored Lord, I have this
day solemnly engaged that, through the strength of the His Holy Spirit,
I will not again expose that corrupt and infirm nature to the smallest
temptation I can avoid; and, therefore, if my Heavenly Father will once
more reunite us all, that I will make a daily sacrifice of every wish,
even the most innocent, lest they should betray me to deviation from
the solemn and sacred vow I have now made. O my God , imprint
it on my soul with the strength of the Holy Spirit, that, by His grace
supported and defended, I may never more forget that Thou are my
all, and that I cannot be received into Thy heavenly kingdom without
a pure and faithful heart, supremely devoted to Thy holy will. Oh,
keep me for the sake of Jesus Christ.” (Mother Seton, Mother of Many
Daughters, Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York, 1949.)

A Desert Father: “An old man said, ‘If a monk knows a place where
he can make progress, but where he can get the necessities of life only
with difficulty, and for that reason he does not go there, such a monk
does not believe that God exists.” “The same old man said, ‘Spiritual
work is essential, it is for this we have come to the desert. It is very
hard to teach with the mouth that which one does not practice with
the body” (The Wisdom of the Desert Fathers, Benedicta Ward, SLG; SlG
Press, 1986).

St. Ambrose of Milan: “Death must be active within us if life also

is to be active within us… The person who cuts himself off from this
fallen nature of ours and frees himself from its chains is imitating death...
Death in this context is a passover to be made by all mankind. You must
keep facing it with perseverance. It is a passover from corruption, from
mortality to immortality, from rough seas to a calm harbor.”

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 humility
St. Francis de Sales: “Moreover, these fits of anger, vexation, and
bitterness against ourselves [due to our failure to avoid sin] tend to
pride; and they spring from no other source than self-love, which is
disturbed and upset at seeing that it is imperfect” (Tissot, Joseph. How
to Profit from Your Faults. Scepter Press, page 27).

St. Francis de Sales: “There is no reason to lack confidence, however

miserable one may be, God is merciful toward those who truly want to
love him and who have placed all their hope in him” (Tissot, Joseph.
How to Profit from Your Faults. Scepter Press, page 77).

St. Francis de Sales: “Those aspiring to the pure love of God do not
need to be as patient with others as with themselves. One has to bear
with one’s imperfections in order to attain perfection. I am saying: bear
it with patience and do not love or caress it. This suffering nurtures the
practice of humility” (Tissot, Joseph. How to Profit from Your Faults.
Scepter Press, page 77).

failure
Dorotheos of Gaza: “Have you fallen? Rise up; and if it happens
again and again and again, do the same” (Dorotheos of Gaza, Discourses
and Sayings; Cistercian Publications, 1977; p. 198).

St. Francis de Sales: “One should die rather than consciously and
deliberately offend God. But if we do fall, we should try to be prepared
to do everything before losing enthusiasm, hope, and resolve.” “If
it occurs to you to commit some fault, do not lose courage. Rise up
immediately as if you had not fallen” (Tissot, Joseph. How to Profit from
Your Faults. Scepter Press, pages 35-36).
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 encouragement
“As Bishop Sheen used to say, the devil is the great consoler before
we sin: ‘It is not so bad…God will forgive you…’; but the great accuser
afterwards: ‘You have sinned again. You will never be free of this; you
will never be saved.’ The Lord, on the other hand, is the great accuser
before we sin: ‘Do not do this. You will not find happiness in this.’ But,
He is the great consoler afterwards: “Do not despair. I will take you
back. Repent and find peace’” (Rev. T. G. Morrow; Achieving Chastity;
http://www.cfalive.com/resources/book-previews/achieving-chastity/;
2006; p. 41).

St. Pope John Paul II: “Attaining happiness requires a rigorous

personal asceticism whose function is to bring order into the human
person. It is a tragic lie to teach people that happiness can or even
should be reached by abandoning oneself to the inclinations of instinct,
without any self-denial.”

St. John Chrysostom: “When a soldier in battle is wounded and

gives ground a little, no one is so unreasonable or so ill-versed in
military matters as to believe that such behavior is criminal. Only those
are invulnerable who are far behind the lines and do not fight. Those
who launch themselves forward bravely in assault against the enemy are
the ones who take a hammering” (To Theodorus, book 1, no 1).

Dorotheos of Gaza: “There was a brother who mourned and wept

when God removed his temptation and cried, ‘Lord, am I unworthy to
endure a little affliction?’ And again there is the account of the disciple
of one of the great old monks who was severely attacked by the spirit
of fornication, and the master seeing this said to him, ‘Do you want
me to beg God to lighten the attack? But the disciple said, ‘Even if I
am hard-pressed, I see that there is great fruit coming to me from this

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 labor. Rather ask this of God: that he give me endurance!’” (Dorotheos
of Gaza, Discourses and Sayings; Cistercian Publications, 1977; p. 196).

St. Josemaria Escriva: “Will-power. A very important quality. Don’t

disregard the little things, which are really never futile or trivial. For by
the constant practice of repeated self-denial in little things, with God’s
grace you will increase in strength and manliness of character. In that
way, you will first become a master of yourself, and then a guide and a
leader: to compel, to urge, to draw others with your example and with
your word and with your knowledge and your power” (The Way; St.
Josemaria Escriva; Scepter Press; 1992; 19).

Macarius Homily: “Let no one claim, ‘I cannot love the only true
good or think or trust in the only good, because I am enslaved and
bound by sin.’ It is certainly not in your power to be able to accomplish
perfectly the works of life or to rescue yourself by your own strength
or to free yourself from indwelling sin, because God has assigned that to
himself. He alone condemned sin, he alone takes away the sin of the
world, he himself has promised to free those who love him and trust in
him from their enslavement to the passions of sin, and it is those whom
he sets free who are free indeed. What you can do, though, is think and
trust and love the Lord and seek him; you can do that and you can also
refuse to cooperate with indwelling sin and to share its delights; only be
an occasion of life to yourself by seeking the Lord, by thinking of him
and loving and waiting for him, and he will provide the power and the
deliverance.

“We prosper in those affairs in which we call upon him (Christ), and
we come to grief in those affairs in which we forget him. We ought not
to do anything or say anything or engage in any battle or suffer any
disturbance at things without crying to him….You want to achieve
some work? Pray to him. You want to speak? Remember him. You want
to be rescued from evils? Call upon the Lord. Is sin ruining you? He is
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 the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. Is somebody scaring
you? He is a tower of strength against the enemy” (The Philokalia, Vol.
III; Faber and Faber; London, 1984).

Attributed to St. Anthony of the Desert: “Look, the bridegroom

comes. Go out to meet him. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they
shall see God, since purity of heart leads to perfection. Two things are
contained within the heart—goodness which is natural to it and evil
which is unnatural. This latter gives rise to such passions of the soul
as murmuring, envy, detraction, and all the rest. Goodness, on the
other hand, promotes knowledge of God and rids the soul of all these
passions. If people honestly try to root out vice and avoid evil, if they
repent with tears and sighs, devoting themselves humbly to a life of
prayer, fasting, and watching, the Lord in his goodness will come to
their aid and free them from all sinful inclinations.

Many who have lived a celibate monastic life for a long time have
failed to learn what purity of heart is, because instead of studying the
teaching of the fathers, they have followed their own wayward desires.
So evil spirits and rebel marauders of the air have prevailed against
them, hurling invisible darts by day and night, and thus preventing
them from finding rest anywhere. Moreover they fill their hearts with
pride, vanity, jealousy, criticism, raging anger, strife, and any number of
other passions.

Such people are to be reckoned with the five foolish virgins because they
have spent their time foolishly. They have not controlled their tongues
nor cleansed their eyes and bodies from concupiscence, neither have
they purged their hearts of lust and other deplorable defilements. It was
enough for them merely to wear a woolen garment signifying virginity.
Consequently they lack the heavenly joy which would kindle their lamps,
and the Bridegroom does not open the door to them but repeats what he
said to the foolish virgins: Truly I say to you, I know you not.
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 My only reason for writing you this letter is my desire for your
salvation. I want you to be free and faithful and pure brides of Christ,
the Bridegroom of all holy souls; as Saint Paul says: I have espoused you
to one husband that I may present you as a chaste bride to Christ.

Let us awake, then, while we are still in this body, and grieve over
ourselves, lamenting day and night from the bottom of our hearts,
so that we may escape the bitter torment, the weeping, wailing, and
remorse that will have no end.

We must beware of entering through the wide gate and taking the easy
road that leads to perdition, for many go that way. Instead we must
enter by the narrow gate and take the path of sorrow and affliction
that leads to life. Few people enter this gate, but those who do are real
workers who will have the joy of receiving the reward of their labors
and will inherit the kingdom.

If any are prepared to set out I do beg them not to delay and waste
time, for they may be like the foolish virgins and find no one willing
to sell them oil. These virgins burst into tears and cried out: Lord,
open to us. But he answered: Truly I say to you, I know you not. And this
happened to them simply because of their laziness.

I beg you by the grace of God to obey me as I also will obey you; and
may we all obey the Lord who said by the tongue of the Prophet: Who
longs for life and desires to see good days? Keep your tongue from evil talk
and your lips from deceitful speech. Turn away from evil and do good; seek
and strive after peace (Letter 20: PG 40, 1056-1058 1061).

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 catechism of the catholic church
2337 Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within
the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual
being. Sexuality, in which man’s belonging to the bodily and biological
world is expressed, becomes personal and truly human when it is
integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the
complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman. The virtue of
chastity therefore involves the integrity of the person and the integrality
of the gift.

2339 Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a

training in human freedom. The alternative is clear: either man governs
his passions and finds peace, or he lets himself be dominated by them
and becomes unhappy. “Man’s dignity therefore requires him to act out
of conscious and free choice, as moved and drawn in a personal way
from within, and not by blind impulses in himself or by mere external
constraint. Man gains such dignity when, ridding himself of all slavery
to the passions, he presses forward to his goal by freely choosing what
is good and, by his diligence and skill, effectively secures for himself the
means suited to this end.”

2340 Whoever wants to remain faithful to his baptismal promises

and resist temptations will want to adopt the means for doing so:
self-knowledge, practice of an ascesis adapted to the situations that
confront him, obedience to God’s commandments, exercise of the
moral virtues, and fidelity to prayer. “Indeed it is through chastity that
we are gathered together and led back to the unity from which we were
fragmented into multiplicity.”

2342 Self-mastery is a long and exacting work. One can never consider
it acquired once and for all. It presupposes renewed effort at all stages

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 of life. The effort required can be more intense in certain periods,
such as when the personality is being formed during childhood and
adolescence.

2345 Chastity is a moral virtue. It is also a gift from God, a grace, a

fruit of spiritual effort. The Holy Spirit enables one whom the water of
Baptism has regenerated to imitate the purity of Christ.

2354 Pornography consists in removing real or simulated sexual acts

from the intimacy of the partners, in order to display them deliberately
to third parties. It offends against chastity because it perverts the
conjugal act, the intimate giving of spouses to each other. It does
grave injury to the dignity of its participants (actors, vendors, the
public), since each one becomes an object of base pleasure and illicit
profit for others. It immerses all who are involved in the illusion of a
fantasy world. It is a grave offense. Civil authorities should prevent the
production and distribution of pornographic materials.

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 Appendix II

Leading a

FRATERNITY
Thank you for taking the leadership role with men eager to engage
Exodus 90. Since you have accepted the leadership role, the indication
is that men trust you and believe you have the integrity necessary to be
an effective leader. This will require you, first and foremost, to be a man
of prayer, a man capable of sensing the promptings of the Holy Spirit,
and effectively responding to Him. You will abandon your men to God,
entrusting your men to God. Their success is not reliant upon you, but
God. You are not capable of carrying your men through the 90-day
experience, but God can and will do so. You only need to ensure that
his voice is heard.

This will also mean that you will walk with the men. Moses did not
preach freedom and then wave a solemn good-bye as the Hebrew
people left Egypt! You must be a faithful participant. You will not be
an effective leader (even if you are a priest or deacon) if you are not
suffering and sacrificing with the men. Many have recalled General
Patton, not so much for his military successes, but because he
disembarked from his jeep and marched with his men.

The first impulse of men reviewing the requirements of Exodus 90

is to modify the disciplines. First, if a man cannot overcome this
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 impulse to modify, he should be advised not to attempt the program.
It simply may not be the correct time for him. Second, a man eager to
modify the disciplines (which is common) is a man who is expending
too much energy attempting to control the forces of his life. Control
very well may be a root of his struggle with chastity, alcohol, anger,
and a myriad of other issues. When we attempt to control the world
around us, we find life to be too much and we resort to puerile fits of
self-pity. A man ought to be encouraged to trust. The disciplines of
Exodus 90 are, actually, not that extreme (as you may see around day
70 and beyond). You may find it interesting that at least one seminary
faculty rejected Exodus 90 and labeled the program “too extreme” and
“too difficult” for men in formation to be priests. On the other hand,
we have known high school men who have joyfully completed their
Exodus with great success.

Adapting the program or lessening the disciplines will only serve the
cause of mediocrity. Men have a natural aversion to mediocrity as,
indeed, men destined for greatness ought to have. Exodus 90 very well
may be the most significant challenge a man will have experienced in a
very long time, but a mediocre experience will kill the thrill.

In light of number two above, men do need to spend time praying and
preparing to begin Exodus 90. This means they must, literally, ask Our
Lord permission to proceed. They must abandon themselves to the
Wisdom of the Savior. No one should approach the program on his
own volition. Prayerfully asking Our Lord for permission to proceed
will be essential if one is to succeed. Neither shall a man approach
Exodus 90 as a “make or break” experience. Rather, a man must
understand that he is simply and radically removing the things in his
life that cloud his judgment and blind his eyes. There is really no magic
to Exodus 90 - with a little effort and a little discipline, we are opening
our lives, sometimes for the first time, to a radical relationship with
God.
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 Knowing what to expect in the Exodus journey is very helpful.
Accordingly, the first 10-20 days are typically very encouraging. A man
has a new fraternity, a goal, a plan, and may finally have hope that life
will change. Then, very suddenly, the days may seem to drag and the
disciplines seem unreasonable. Progress may seem to be slow or unseen.
The days are characterized by fatigue, irritableness, weariness, and
overwhelming desires to quit. These days, 20-45, are easily the most
difficult. At day 45, the fraternity realizes it is half way to the goal. A
cautious satisfaction characterizes the following days. The difficulty
remains, but the goal, freedom, is ever closer. Interestingly, by day
70-90, there is an awkward sense of peace. Awkward, as the experience
of peace is new and comes with a new knowledge of self. A hard-won
freedom is realized. Then, believe it or not and in spite of the difficulty,
most realize that “this is the way a Christian is supposed to be living!”

To have a worthwhile experience in Exodus 90, the men must keep

their focus, above all, on freedom. They must understand that, in
exchange for the many earthly things they will forgo, they will receive
the sweet and blessed freedom necessary to love. Without freedom, a
man cannot love and a man who cannot love is not really human. As a
leader, you must regularly convince the men that freedom is worth the
struggle and remind your men who they are sacrificing for: their wives,
children, and/or parishes. In some cases, you may have to help them
develop an appreciation for freedom or a longing for freedom. Exodus
90 is not a matter of sacrifice and penance as much as it is about
emptying oneself in order to be free once again. Sacrificing for freedom
and love is much more satisfying than doing penance for lust.

With all certainty, then, rather than saying “no” to a beer, a dessert, or
a peek at the internet, it is better to say “yes” to Jesus Christ and our
loved ones. It is always easier to say “yes” than to say “no”.

The men must develop a true and dependable fraternity. It amazes

us how inept men can be with regard to forming lasting friendships
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 and fraternity. We see fraternity as an essential and necessary part
of a man’s life, even as most seem incapable of forming fraternity
themselves. Technology, sadly, that tends to isolate, has made this
even more difficult. Universally, once men experience fraternity,
they love and revere the brotherhood. In addition, the men must
see their brotherly affiliation as necessary for their own success and
the success of their brothers in Exodus 90. Nearly all participants
confess the program to be impossible without the aid and support of
compassionate brothers. We would highly recommend, very early in
the program, that the group take a night away… somewhere in the
woods, a cabin, or at an isolated retreat center. There need not be an
agenda. The men only need to sit around a campfire, on the top of a
mountain, on the shore of a lake, or in the cloister of a retreat center
and listen to one another’s stories. Then, let Our Father take the
group from that point. It is amazing how quickly they will bond as
brothers with time away.

In addition, breaking the Friday fast with an early morning breakfast

on Saturday (perhaps following Mass) has been a highlight of men
who have participated in Exodus 90 in the past. It strengthens and
builds the Exodus camaraderie.

Accountability partners are also highly recommended for men

who are struggling with any sort of addiction. Partners can
easily check in each night via text message. During the day, an
accountability partner can text the word “green” for “all is well,”
“yellow” for “experiencing difficulties, please pray for me” and “red”
for “desperate, please intervene.” Accountability partners can also
double-check to make sure a brother is happily and successfully
engaged in the Exodus disciplines. Lastly, accountability partners can
help with other internet monitoring tools. We highly recommend
using Covenant Eyes software during the program, both for
those overcoming addiction and others generally desiring a more
intentional use of the internet. Have your men insert the promo code
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 “Exodus90” upon checkout at CovenantEyes.com, and they’ll receive
the first 30 days of the software free of charge.

Be cautious and watch for those who may be overzealous… for

example, losing too much weight or pushing others to do too much.
Exodus 90 is enough; and it is a long-term process. You are the leader
of the group. You must be attentive to the men, watch those who may
be overburdened, depressed, anxious, or those who are not making a
serious effort. Rely on your instinct or your common sense to lightly
guide, adapt, admonish, challenge, or, most importantly, to encourage!

Two common questions: first, many wonder if nourishment such as a

protein drink is acceptable on fast days following an intense workout.
Yes, no problem. Many are curious about taking a “reward” on
Sundays. Sundays in the Catholic tradition are “solemnities,” and rarely
do Christians fast on a Feast Day or a Solemnity. Thus, during Exodus
90, enjoying one reward is recommended. In other words, a pint of
beer, a dessert, a portion of a favorite food, 30 minutes on social media,
etc. can and should be enjoyed without guilt.

Obviously, prayer is utterly essential. Lectio Divina is highly

recommended and practical instructions can be found at
ThoseCatholicMen.com. Most do not know how to pray and may need
to be taught. They should see “union with God” as the point of prayer.
If the fraternity can make arrangements to always pray at the same
time during the day… and enjoy that unity with God and brother, all
the better. Prayer should be for the individual and for the group, but
do not forget the thousands of men around the country who are also
engaged in Exodus 90 with you. It may even be worthwhile to pray for
another group in a nearby town or parish by name. Remember that 20-
60 minutes of private prayer is recommended each day.

Do not let your fraternity meetings deteriorate into an attempt at

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 group therapy. The men must have the freedom to talk, but no man
should be pressured to reveal things about himself that he would
rather keep private. The men ought to be given an opportunity to
introduce themselves and tell their story early in the process, but
graphic or sensational stories about past exploits ought to be limited.
Strict confidentiality is a necessity. If a man is revealing too much
about himself or demanding too much time, you should intervene.
Thereafter, the men should not be pressured to reveal details about
their personal struggles… but if they have a need to discuss it, the
group should be supportive. Caution should be exercised toward a
man who has a very bad habit or sexual addiction. He may confess his
failure to the group by way of accountability, but the second or third
time he must confess, the group serves only to become a part of the
ritual of his addiction. He should remain in the group, but he would
do well to consult a Catholic therapist.

Again, if you discover a man who is sincerely dedicated to the process

and truly wants to overcome an addiction… and fails repeatedly…
he may need you to help him find a Catholic therapist. He may even
need to be convinced that a therapist is necessary and helpful and not
an admission of masculine failure. A good therapist can help a man
immensely. Be sure the therapist works from a Christian anthropology.
In other words, he must do more than assist the man to be comfortable
acting out sexually or to overcome the shame of failure. This will not
help a man. You might consult CatholicTherapists.com for a Catholic
therapist in your area.

Married men often allow family life to impede the Exodus 90 process.
A married man may even try to hide behind his wife’s protests. It’s a
90-day program. In other words, it will not last forever. It will require
some adjustments for the entire family. However, experience has shown
that women love the man their husband becomes by day 90. She
may have to be convinced at first, but if she agrees to her husband’s
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 commitment and allows him the time he needs, he will return to her a
much better husband. A fiancée was once told, “Let us have him for 90
days and we will give him back to you for 50+ years.” Many men have
found that, with the television, social media, sound system, etc. turned
off, their entire family was completely renewed. One man, having
found he became a better father and his wife and children a better
family, asserted, “We will never go back.”

Failure is not an option. Too often, in our dank society, men are
defined by their faults or failures. Exodus 90 will only serve to
reinforce terrible self-doubt and self-hatred for a man who attempts the
program only to fail. Most men, with fervent prayer and a committed
brotherhood, can succeed in completing Exodus 90. Keep in mind,
if a man fails, it is probably because his fraternity failed him first. He
may not complete Exodus 90 splendidly or with glory and prowess, but
all that is necessary to complete the 90 days. God will take him from
there.

Detractors, and they are legion, will - without attempting Exodus 90

themselves - condemn it for any number of reasons. For example:

“Exodus is an imbalanced, hyper-masculine pursuit.” Actually, men

attempt Exodus 90 because, after years of failing, they are tired of
being enslaved to sex, technology, money, etc. Exodus 90 is not a
“take off your shirt and beat a drum in the wilderness” experience.
Rather, the experience is for men who are broken and enslaved
who seek true healing and freedom. Why would anyone begrudge
a man who seeks these worthwhile things?

“Exodus 90 is too much; it is too radical; it is too difficult.” Yes,

Exodus 90 is a very challenging program. But look at it this way:
say your doctor told you that you are essentially dying from a
disease you do not even know how to pronounce. Frightening.
But he also tells you that a regimen of prayer, radical asceticism,
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 and fraternity will cure you… would the disciplines be that
difficult? Not at all! Now, in Exodus 90, the Divine Physician has
given us the prescription needed to avoid spiritual death. Take the
medicine!

The accusation is often made that Exodus 90 is Pelagian.

Pelagianism (long story short) was condemned by the Church for
its teaching that original sin did not corrupt human nature (bad
example did) and that a man is capable of choosing good or evil
without God’s grace. In other words, the Pelagian “picks himself
up by his own bootstraps”. To the contrary, Exodus 90 is simply
an “emptying out” of what prevents God from working in the
Christian man. The goal of Exodus 90 is to “die to self ” as Jesus
commanded, allowing the seed to die that it might grow and
produce much fruit (John 12:24).

Many ask about Day 91. First, recklessly abandoning all Exodus 90
disciplines with gusto is not recommended. It would be a shame to re-
enslave oneself just after realizing freedom. Rather, abandon one or two
of the most challenging disciplines first. Then, after a week, a few more.
A man must learn to protect what he has worked so hard to achieve.
Remember that the principles of Exodus 90 (prayer, asceticism, and
brotherhood) are part and parcel with Christian living. They cannot be
left behind entirely after the program.

Those Catholic Men has composed a guideline for Day 91, but in
doing so, ample room was built in for creativity and adaptation. Men
are called to action. Do not allow your Exodus 90 fraternity to simply
disperse. Keep the men together, keep them focused, engage them in
the community in which you live.

Find Day 91 guidelines on page 286. For more Day 91 support, visit
www.Exodus90.com/day91.

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 Special

THANKS
Exodus 90 has been
made possible through
the generous support of
benefactors, business
leaders and volunteers at
all levels.

In a particular way, we want to thank and honor the

design team at 86 Creative. They have donated countless
hours to sustaining and evolving the Exodus 90 brand.
Check them out at 86creative.com for your design and
marketing needs. You won't find a team of Catholic men
and women committed to a higher standard of excellence.

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 About the

PRIEST

Father Brian Doerr is the founder of

Those Catholic Men and Exodus 90.
He is a priest of the Diocese of Lafayette-
in-Indiana. Fr. Doerr has worked with
Catholic men and youth throughout his
priesthood. In 1999, while serving as the
Diocesan Vocations Director, he founded
a successful and growing high school
fraternity called the Knights of the Holy Temple. The Knights forms
young men in virtue at a critical developmental stage before college and
has inspired many young men to discern priestly vocations. Fr. Doerr
then served as Vice-Rector of Human Formation at Mount St. Mary’s
Theological Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland where he formed
seminarians for the priesthood. It was there where he developed what
have become known as Those Catholic Men and Exodus 90. He served
as the founding President of Those Catholic Men, Inc. until 2016. He
is an expert on mentoring and has a passion for restoring a sense of
nobility to manhood in the Church as well as society at large.

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