Word to the Wise
Wednesday, July 15, 2015 - Wednesday in the 15th Week in Ordinary Time
[Exod 3:1-6, 9-12 and Matt 11:25-27]So Moses decided, "I must go over to look at this remarkable sight, and see why the bush is not burned." [Exodus]
JULY 15 ST. BONAVENTURE ofm, Doctor of the Church
The great narrative of the deliverance of Israel from slavery begins with Moses, a fugitive from Egyptian justice, tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro. I can imagine it was considerably more boring than life in Pharaoh's household or, for that matter, Pharaoh's jail! A bush that burns but isn't burnt could be a good diversion in the day! What happens next is one of the most important events in the Old Testament. Moses encounters God, and his life and human history will never be the same.
I have called attention before to the privilege the Old Testament patriarchs like Abraham had of arguing and bargaining with God. The dialogue between Moses and God is another, and very important, example. God has a mission for Moses and Moses is reluctant, to put it mildly. Every argument Moses advances is swept aside. In the process, God reveals God's own name: I AM. (Remember those "I AM" statements of Jesus in the Gospel of John?) Moses will reveal God to the Egyptian Pharaoh and demand the liberation of the Jewish people! His reluctance is understandable. But as important as the dramatic events of that deliverance will be, they will not be the end, there will be the long journey in the wilderness, the Golden Calf, the covenant in the Ten Commandments. Moses will occasionally get exasperated with God and God with him!
The encounter with the burning bush has attracted spiritual writers throughout the ages because of the self-revelation of God. In my own case, the dialogue has been important as I recall the struggle I had with the decision to enter religious life back in my college days. Moses remains a hero to me. He was and is a great figure in God's plan, but he lives as a fascinating person in that great plan. AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
90 ms
4
