Word to the Wise
Tuesday, July 13, 2021 - Tuesday in the 15th Week in Ordinary Time
[Exod 2:1-15a and Matt 11:20-24,1014]Pharaoh's daughter came down to the river to bathe, while her maids walked along the river bank. Noticing the basket among the reeds, she sent her handmaid to fetch it. On opening it, she looked, and lo, there was a baby boy, crying! She was moved with pity for him and said, "It is one of the Hebrews' children." Then his sister asked Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call one of the Hebfrew women to nurse the child for you?" "Yes, do so," she answered. So the maiden went and called the child's own mother. Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will repay you." The woman therefore took the child and nursed it. When the child grew she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter,who adopted him as her son and called him Moses; for she said, "I drew him out of the water." [Exodus]
The back-story to the one above is that Pharaoh had ordered aospel According to Matthew 2:16-ll male children of a certain age to be killed because he thought the Hebrews were becoming too numerous. (Needless to say, this story would be echoed in the Gospel According to Matthew about Herod's order. Matt. 2:16-18). Moses' family decided to set him afloat in a basket and see if an Egyptian would adopt him. Well....a story is a story and Pharaoh's daughter just happened to be walking by. Moses' sister was hiding nearby and readily volunteered to find a nurse for the baby. Of course, that nurse would be the real mother! Many a nursing mom will sigh and say, "I wish I could get paid for nursing my kids! " The Old Testament loves clever stories, and Moses' story is a good one.
The most important thing about all this is to become acquainted with an amazing giant in the Bible. There's no escaping Moses. He was not just a person, but came to personify the set of laws and customs that define Judaism. St. Jerome once wrote, "Ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ." That would certainly be true of Moses. Ignorance of Moses and his significance for Jesus' life and ministry would be truly ignorance of Christ. The first scripture for daily Mass this week will tell us more. Stay tuned for the burning bush!! AMEN