RBWords

     The Book of Exodus continues to provide us with drama and special effects.  Another big event is about to occur - the giving of the Ten Commandments!  The "special effects" - as described above - are part of the Old Testament way of presenting a "theophany," a word meaning a moment when God is personally present (as contrasted with when God sends a messenger instead).  A "theophany" does not have to be in the midst of fire and thunder.  God appears in a still small voice to Elijah, even if there was a lot of noise just before that, to be sure. [1 Kings 19:10-11].  However, the big Sinai event requires drama.  How else to make sure that everyone understands that the God of all Creation, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is coming to earth to speak to a mere mortal named Moses?  Everyone has to gather at the foot of the mountain to await the outcome in fear and trembling!

     This is more than some kind of biblical "Hail to the Chief!"  There has to be some way in which WE separate the sacred from the mundane.  God doesn't need the fireworks, WE do!  Humans are all too prone to become blase' about even the most important things.  A loss of the sense of the "sacred," is a terrible thing, as we in our time witness in the relentless attacks on the sacredness of human life and relationships!  The journey of the Israelites in the desert is one long story of forgetting about God and needing to be reminded.  Our Catholic liturgical tradition is filled with ritual designed to remind us of all that God has done for us.  Yet, even the most elaborate of rituals (e.g. the very elaborate celebrations of the Eastern rites of the Church) can become routine.  If we are inclined to smile a bit about the biblical special effects, we might try to remember what it takes for God to get OUR attention in our own day!   AMEN