1st Sunday of Lent - First Reading - Deuteronomy 26:4–10 - Moses retells the great events of salvation history.

1. Deuteronomy 26:4-10
Moses retells the
great events of
salvation history.
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educational and religious use when no financial charge is made for viewing. Catholic Lectionary. (2009). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

2. 4 The priest shall then receive the basket from
you and shall set it in front of the altar of
the LORD, your God.
5 Then you shall declare before the LORD,
your God, ‘My father was a wandering
Aramean who went down to Egypt with a
small household and lived there as an
alien. But there he became a nation great,
strong and numerous.
6 When the Egyptians maltreated and
oppressed us, imposing hard labor upon
us,
7 we cried to the LORD, the God of our
fathers, and he heard our cry and saw our
affliction, our toil and our oppression.

3. 8 He brought us out of Egypt with his
strong hand and outstretched arm,
with terrifying power, with signs and
wonders;
9 and bringing us into this country, he
gave us this land flowing with milk
and honey.
10 Therefore, I have now brought you the
first fruits of the products of the soil
which you, O LORD, have given me.’
And having set them before the
LORD, your God, you shall bow down
in his presence.

4. The first fruits of the
land or labor should
be considered the
“Tithe” or one tenth
of the earnings.
The emphasis in this reading falls on
the form of the religious service
which must accompany the
offering.
Even today a gardener takes a special
pleasure, special pride, in the first
crop of the season, but perhaps in
this scientific age, we have
forgotten that it is God who brought
forth the crop.
This section of Deuteronomy insists
on three things:
(1) that the worship must be directed
to the true God;

5. (2) that the worship
must be conducted
properly, and “set
them, the gifts,
before the LORD” is
a reference to
Jerusalem’s Temple.
(3) that the Israelites should be grateful—
not just feeling a sense of awe at the first
fruits produced, but recognizing exactly
what God’s blessings amounted to.
Moses is reminding the Israelites how
God had always provided for their
needs.
It is now the people’s opportunity,
through the tithing process, to return to
God a portion of what He has given to
them.
Those who are unable to give money,
should give their time and talents if they
are able to do so without stress to the
family.