which collects fish of every kind.
God does not discriminate. He scatters the seed of his word generously. He casts his net broadly. He wants as big of a harvest and as big of a catch as possible. He desires all men to be saved and come to knowledge of the truth (cf. 1 Tim. 2:4). It is because of this that "you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God" (cf. Eph. 2:19).
From the storeroom of the Old Testament we bring forth knowledge of the holiness of God. We realize how lovely God's dwelling place is. We realize how profound is the glory of God's presence as his cloud covers the meeting tent and even Moses cannot enter. We learn to long for and desire this presence which our eyes cannot yet see.
From the storeroom of the New we discover that we are now permitted to enter this presence. This is so much greater than anything we find in the Old and yet everything we find there is foundational. It is necessary and vital to understand the meaning of this gift. Only because of everything we find there can we say:
I had rather one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I had rather lie at the threshold of the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
Let us learn to appreciate and desire the presence of the LORD as revealed in the pillar of fire and the shekinah glory cloud. Let us be grateful that he makes this presence so available to us.
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assemblya of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel (cf. Heb. 12:22-24).
This is the presence of God in the glory cloud into which even Moses cannot come. It is the very presence we find at the center of the clouds of incense in the Holy Mass. Moses teaches us not to take this lightly. Jesus invites us to come.
Let us be as generous with others as Jesus is with us. Let us not discriminate about whom we invite to join us at the feast. Jesus wants us to fish and to take up the nets ourselves. We cannot let ourselves be content with only the old. We must desire to bring an ever new catch and harvest for the kingdom.
Let us be led by his presence. May we not try to bring the cloud and the pillar of fire with us. May we instead watch where he leads and follow him there. This is where we find all that the blessings which he longs to give us.
Whenever the cloud rose from the Dwelling,
the children of Israel would set out on their journey.
But if the cloud did not lift, they would not go forward;
only when it lifted did they go forward.
Even the small souls among us are welcomed to his dwelling. "Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest". Glory to him!
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