Leviticus Chapter 23

LEVITICUS 

CHAPTER 

23

1. The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2. Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: These are the appointed festivals of the LORD that you shall proclaim as holy convocations, my appointed festivals.

(Leviticus Chapter 23 verses 1 to 2)

Oh God, my Father I thank You for giving us these special occasions in order to commemorate Your name and give You praise and adoration. During our time's festivals and parties, are cropping up like weeds, and any occasion is a good occasion to get drunk and satisfy the senses. We have feasts for wine, chocolate, and even bread during which there is the temptation of over consuming in goods and even drinks. We are abusing such moments so much that in Malta even st.Patricks day left behind it a barrage of rubbish that had to be cleaned not by those who polluted the areas concerned but by public funds which could have been used for a better cause.

 If You would like to see a parody of Saint Patrick on this special day please click on the following link:-

Parody of Saint Patrick's Day

3. Six days shall work be done; but the seventh day is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work; it is a sabbath to the LORD throughout your settlements.


(Leviticus Chapter 23 verse 3)


Oh God in obedience to Your Holy will, both the Roman Catholic Church and the State of Malta had agreed to hold this day as being a non-working day, however, this day is being violated since supermarkets and convenience shops are rendering their services on such a special day dedicated to You. Oh God, I pray that we be firm in our obedience to both You and Your will even if this means rejecting a job that renders its services on a Sunday.

4. These are the appointed festivals of the LORD, the holy convocation, which you shall celebrate at the time appointed for them.


(Leviticus Chapter 23 verse 4)



With reference to the following festivals oh God my Father, You enlightened the Roman Catholic Church in relation to choose which of the mentioned festivals it was to keep, especially those of the Sabbath and that of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, which You told us in the New Testament to keep on practicing  in  commemoration of the greatest even of humanity that of our salvation. Amen.

5. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, there shall be a passover offering to the LORD, 6. and on the fifteenth day of the same month is the festival of unleavened bread to the LORD; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupation. 8. For seven days you shall present the LORD'S offerings by fire; on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations.


(Leviticus Chapter 23 verses 5 to 7)


Oh God my Father although for us it may not be possible to celebrate Passover in such a way, we can still offer You every day of our life as an offering of thanksgiving for when You liberated us from many situations of our lives. Amen.

8. For seven days you shall present the LORD'S offerings by fire; on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations.


(Leviticus Chapter 23 verse 8)


Oh God, this is very similar to the celebration of the sacrament of the Eucharist which is held every day but in a special way on a Sunday, which is a special day where nobody or at least the majority of the people does not go to work.


9. The LORD spoke to Moses: 10. Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest, 11. He shall raise the sheaf before the LORD, that you may find acceptance, on the day after the sabbath the priest shall raise it.


(Leviticus Chapter 23 verses 9 to 11)


Oh God my Father, You make our ways straight to enter into the land that You promised us, that may even represent our heavenly home, or a new beginning in life, free from the situations of Egypt that we had been experiencing. However as it happens in the case of children once we give them the gift, they might not even say 'thank you' or show and signs of gratitude. You do not wish it to be the same. In every situation even before we receive from You or are delivered by You, we are to give thanks in faith as if the situation has already changed for the better. Our attitude is to be one of thanksgiving and not of pride and a lack of appreciation.


12. On the day when you raise the sheaf, you shall offer a lamb a year old, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the LORD. 13. And the grain offering with it shall be two-tenths of an ephah of choice flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the LORD; and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin.


(Leviticus Chapter 23 verses 12 to 13)


Oh God our daily offering at home and at work are like the offering of the lamb along with the drink of wine and oil, which are our difficulties. We offer You all of our strengths and weaknesses as a daily offering Amen.


14. You shall eat no bread or parched grain or fresh ears until that very day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your settlements.

(Leviticus Chapter 23 verse 14)


Oh God my Father it would make great sense to abstain from a source that gives us pleasure until we have been saved from a particular, bad habit or sin. On being liberated we would then offer You or somebody in need an offering of thanksgiving as a form of repayment for Your loving kindness.




15. And from the day after the sabbath, from the day on which you bring the sheaf of the elevation offering, you shall count off seven weeks, they shall be complete. 16. You shall count until the day after the seventh sabbath, fifty days; then you shall present an offering of new grain to the LORD.


(Leviticus Chapter 23 verses 15 to 16)



Oh God, it would also be a good practice for us to offer You an offer of thanksgiving every week of our life in gratitude for all the support love, and care that You give us. It would be a good idea to offer a gift as charity to either a person or an organisation, for You Yourself told us that anything that we give to someone in need it is as if we are giving to You.


17. You shall bring from your settlements two loaves of bread as an elevation offering, each made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of choice flour, baked with leaven, as first fruits to the LORD.


(Leviticus Chapter 23 verse 17)


Oh God, our weekly offering can be as from an individual and even better as a family in which we offer You the best events that took place during that week because You deserve nothing than the best Amen.



18. You shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, one young bull, and two rams; they shall be a burnt offering to the LORD, along with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the LORD.


(Leviticus Chapter 23 verse 18)


Oh God my Father as You offered your one and only Son as a sacrificial offering for our atonement and well-being may we offer our sons and daughters to work in Your Holy Service as consecrated people meaning nuns priests, or any other role in the Roman Catholic Church and even other churches. For there is a lot of work and a lack of labourers or farmhands to do it. Amen.



19. You shall also offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of well-being. 20. The priest shall raise them with the bread of the first fruits as an elevation offering before the LORD, together with the two lambs; they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. 21. On that same day you shall make proclamation; you shall hold a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. This is a statute forever in all your settlements throughout your generations.


(Leviticus Chapter 23 verses 19 to 21)


Oh God, my Father may every day of our life be a special day of offering to You. I pray that You bless and consecrate every day of my life and even those of others so that we will be a special offering to You my God and Father Amen.


I invite all who are meditating on this chapter to join me in the following song called 'We are an offering' and offer ourselves, what we are and what we have to You my God.


We are an offering



22. When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleaning of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien: I am the LORD your God.


(Leviticus Chapter 23 verse 22)


Oh God, I thank You for Your kindness and generosity. You love us so much without any discrimination if we are rich or poor. You love us so much that You provide for all, especially for those who are greatly in need. You provide for us enough to be able to share with others. I greatly thank You for Your divine providence and pray that You keep on providing me so that I can share in both faith skills and finance. Amen.


23. The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 24. Speak to the people of Israel, saying; In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of complete rest, a holy convocation commemorated with trumpet blasts. 25. You shall not work at your occupations; and you shall present the LORD's offering by fire.


(Leviticus Chapter 23 verses 23 to 25)


Oh God in order to keep You always on our minds and in remembrance of the great and mighty events that You permitted to take place, You wish us to celebrate such moments with pomp and why not! When considering the money spent in welcoming V.P.S we are not to be stingy with the resources allocated in praise and worship to You my God. We are to celebrate with great pomp and grandeur for there is none like You and You are always more than worthy to be praised Amen.



26. The LORD spoke to Moses, saying; 27. Now, the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you: you shall deny yourselves and present the LORD's offering by fire; 28. and you shall do no work during that entire day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the LORD your God. 29. For anyone who does not practice self-denial during that entire day shall be cut off from the people.


(Leviticus Chapter 23 verses 26 to 29)


Oh God, my Father when You ordered Your people, to practice self-denial it is not because You are a cruel God. On the contrary. Self-denial is good for us, for it gives us control over ourselves and it helps us to go against our sinful nature. When doing so we are disciplining our brains. This exercise helps us even to break bad habits and addictions, because when we have become victorious with Your help over ourselves, we can apply the same discipline in other areas of our lives. Prayer along with self-talk makes the task easier, which in time becomes a new pattern which replaces the old pattern and is therefore in itself a therapeutical exercise. I thank You oh God my Father for giving us such a healing a powerful skill and discipline.


30. And anyone who does work during that entire day, such a one I will destroy from the midst of the people. 31. You shall do no work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your settlements. 32. It shall be to you a sabbath of complete rest, and you shall deny yourselves; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening you shall keep your sabbath.


(Leviticus Chapter 23 verses 30 to 32)


Oh God my Father, how nice is Your rest. There is nothing that gives me pleasure than resting in You, my God. This is a time when we can stop, retreat and meditate, on our relationships with ourselves and even with You, my God. Amen.



33. The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 34. Speak to the people of Israel, saying: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month, and lasting seven days, there shall be the festival of booths to the LORD.


(Leviticus Chapter 23 verses 33 to 34)


Oh God my Father during the moments of well-being You would like us to never forget those days when we were in a state of Exodus meaning in a state where a particular crisis or situation reduced our lives to living in a substandard condition as do our sins to us. However in order to remember how You intervened in our lives and in the lives of the people while in this state, You wanted them to spend a time to live in pigeon holes or limited spaces called 'booths'. Oh God, my Father when going back to our own states of exodus we can also praise You with praise and worship for having redeemed us from that addiction or crisis, and for giving us the faith and motivation to move on so as not to end up in that situation again. I honestly thank You, my God and Father. Amen.



35. The first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations, 36. Seven days you shall present the LORD'S offerings by fire; on the eighth day you shall observe a holy convocation and present the LORD'S offerings by fire; it is a solemn assembly; you shall not work at your occupations.


(Book of Leviticus Chapter 23 verses 35 to 36)



Oh god my Fathe, even though during our days we cannot offer offerings by fire, we can still offer You every day of our lives consecrated by the fires of tribulations and trials that You permit us to experience in order to help us grow on all levels. Still in order to prepare for our special day of Sunday, we can still prepare by praying on the Gospel and other readings that would be shared in order to reflect on it and benefit from its bounty of fruit. Moreover, when reflecting on Your Bible we feel the message on a personal level more than a reminder of his or her sins and how it would be nice if that person was to listen to that scripture. Instead of using scripture to criticise each other, it would be much better to use it to build each other Amen!



37. These are the appointed festivals of the LORD, which you shall celebrate as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the LORD offerings by fire-burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day-38. apart from the sabbaths of the LORD, and apart from your gifts, and apart from all your freewill offerings, which you give to the LORD.

(Leviticus Chapter 23 verses 37 to 38)


Oh God my Father, apart from the appointed feasts such as Christmas and God Friday among others, You desired that we celebrate the following feasts as found in this link that leads us to a full list of feasts, however as found in verse 38 whenever we want to we can offer our offerings of thanksgiving to You in a spirit of prayer or praise and worship. You appreciate our offerings oh God my Father, therefore, we are lead a life of thanksgiving to You which is to be reflected even in our attitude which is also to be a positive one based on thanking You for all that You have done or still doing for us Amen.


List of Roman Catholic Feasts


39. Now, the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall keep the festival of the LORD, lasting seven days; a complete rest on the first day, and a complete rest on the eighth day. 40. On the first day you shall take the fruit of majestic trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. 41. You shall keep it as a festival to the LORD seven days in the year; you shall keep it in the seventh month as a statute forever throughout your generations.


(Leviticus Chapter 23 verses 39 to 41)



Oh God, my Father I thank You for illuminating our leaders of both Church and State in relation to which feasts, where held as being public holidays such as Christmas, for when considering our lifestyles and weekly day of work there may have been problems in applying the mentioned days as days of festivals. However what the state does not give us we can give ourselves, for many retreats are organised during which we can be led and guided in our spiritual journey where we can give praise and worship to You as a community and also as individuals. Amen.



42. You shall live in booths for seven days; all that are citizens in Israel shall live in booths, 43,.so that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God. 44. Thus Moses declared to the people of Israel the appointed festivals of the LORD.


(Leviticus Chapter 23 verses 42 to 44)


Oh God my Father that we will always remember those moments when You intervened in our lives, and that we may never forget such moments. Many times You saved us from moments of pain and anguish and many times we may not have been grateful. I, therefore, wish to end this chapter with the following prayer.


Oh God my Lord and Father, I offer with a spirit of thanksgiving every day of my life. I thank You for those moments when I felt happy because all happened as I had planned and according to Your will. I also thank You for those moments when the outcome was not as I had planned it, however, You love me so much that even out of a negative outcome You gave it a positive slant so that I would not be discouraged. Amen.