The day's blitz by a fairly astute observer. Moses lays down the law, for his people. Became a message for all, Roman church included. Gospel writers, a new kind of Jew, told us about it, remind us.

We listen.

The day’s Bible reading by the 1969 calendar

Deuteronomy 30: 15-20 Moses to the people: "Today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and doom.

“If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today, loving him, and walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees, you will live and grow numerous, and the LORD, your God, will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy.”

We see where Israelis got their idea about belonging where they are.

But there’s that death and doom part:

“If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen, but are led astray and adore and serve other gods, I tell you now that you will certainly perish; you will not have a long life on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and occupy.

“I call heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse.”

Add to that the gospel reading for the day, starting with:

Verse Before the Gospel Matthew 4: 17 Repent, says the Lord; the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Truly a Lenten message.

The gospel?

Luke 9: 22-25: Jesus to disciples: "The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised."

Then he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?"

Yes, the rules of life. We understand, the cross takes many shapes. No need to tell anyone.

And the pre-1969 calendar has a grimmer picture, preceded by this cry from the heart:

Ecclesiasticus 51: 13-17 O Lord, my God, You have exalted my dwelling place upon the earth, and I have prayed for death to pass away.

I called upon the Lord, the Father of my Lord, that He would not abandon me in the day of my trouble, and in the time of the proud without help.

I will ever praise Your name, and will praise it with thanksgiving; and my prayer was heard. And You saved me from destruction, and delivered me from the evil time. For this reason I thank You and I praise You, O Lord, our God.

Preparing us for the hard part:

Matthew 13: 44-52 At that time, Jesus spoke this parable to His disciples: The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field; he who finds it hides it, and in his joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. When he finds a single pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net cast into the sea that gathered in fish of every kind. When it was filled, they hauled it out, and sitting down on the beach, they gathered the good fish into vessels, but threw away the bad.

So will it be at the end of the world. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from among the just, and will cast them into the furnace of fire, where there will be the weeping, and the gnashing of teeth.

Have you understood all these things? They said to Him, Yes. And He said to them, So then, every Scribe [scholar] instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings forth from his storeroom things new and old.

The great translator Ronald Knox explains this last:

Perhaps in the sense that he [the scribe, or scholar] must learn, on principles laid down in the foregoing parables, the difference between the old Church of the Jews and the new Church of Christ.

Catholics once prayed for conversion of the Jews. I once, in the long ago, wrote up some young Catholics who were working that project, was roundly castigated by a well-known fellow who had the run of the news room and walked up to my desk and chewed me out for that story, running in that day’s paper.

He turned around and walked away, leaving me to ponder. So it goes in the wild and woolly world of daily newspaper-ism. Or went. As I say, it’s been years. Still remember it, however.