Wednesday of Week 15 of Ordinary Time – First Reading

Commentary on Exodus 3:1-6,9-12

Yesterday we left Moses lying low in Midian, a fugitive from the law. Then, one day, as he was seated by a well, the seven daughters of a priest of Midian came to draw water for the sheep’s drinking troughs. When the girls were driven away by some shepherds, Moses came to their defence and even watered their flock for them.

When they got home, they explained to their father, Reuel, how an ‘Egyptian’ came to their assistance and even drew the water for their flock (it is interesting that the daughters referred to Moses as an ‘Egyptian’ and not as a Hebrew). The father immediately told them to bring Moses to the house and share their hospitality. Moses ended up staying with them, and Reuel gave his daughter, Zipporah, in marriage to him; this is another example of a marriage resulting from an encounter at a well.

Moses and Zipporah then had a son who was named Gershom, because Moses had said:

I have been an alien residing in a foreign land. (Gen 2:22)

The name is explained as if it came from the Hebrew word ger, ‘stranger’ joined to the Hebrew word sham, ‘there’.

In the meantime, the Pharaoh died, but the sufferings of the Hebrews continued and, as they cried out to God for help, he remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And so we are led into the beginning of the Exodus story and of its protagonist, Moses.

Today’s reading begins by telling us that one day, as Moses was looking after the sheep of his father-in-law, Jethro (Jethro is another name for Reuel; in Judges he is called Hobab), he came to the mountain of God, Horeb. Horeb is called the “mountain of God” because of the divine apparitions which took place there, such as on this occasion and when the Israelites were there after they had left Egypt.

Suddenly an “angel of the Lord” appeared to him from the flames of a bush which was on fire. It is God himself who has become visible to human eyes. The visual form under which God appeared and spoke to humans is referred to indifferently in some Old Testament texts either as “God’s angel” or as “God himself”. Moses was surprised that, although on fire, the bush was not burning away. He was drawn to take a closer look at this strange phenomenon.

As Moses approached the bush, God called out from the centre of the bush: “Moses! Moses!” To which Moses replied: “Here I am.”

Moses is told not to come any nearer and to remove his shoes because he is on holy ground. The voice then identifies itself:

I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

Moses immediately hid his face because he knew he could not look face to face at God. The appearance of God caused fear and death, since it was believed that no one could see God and live.

We remember how Jacob, on the occasion of his wrestling with a strange man, later realised it had been God himself. Later, he exclaimed:

…I have seen God face to face, yet my life is preserved.
(Gen 32:30)

In the Gospel, Jesus will also use the term “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” in contesting the Sadducees’ denial of life after death:

And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is God not of the dead but of the living. (Matt 22:31-32)

Of course, it may be that the term, when used at the time of the Exodus, was used to distinguish the God in whom the Hebrews believed from the gods of other neighbouring peoples. The concept of One God of the whole universe had yet to develop at that time. But by the time of the Gospel, such a universal God was accepted by the Hebrews.

In verses omitted from our reading, God assures Moses that he is fully aware of the sufferings of his people in Egypt and of their treatment by Egyptian slave drivers. He will now come to their rescue and:

…bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey… (Exod 3:8)

The first step in this operation will be for Moses to go to the Pharaoh and to lead his people out of Egypt. Moses hears this assignment with great alarm; after all, although he grew up in the royal palace, he is now a man on the run because of a murder he committed. As a fugitive from the Pharaoh, he could hardly hope to carry out a mission to him. In addition, he must have remembered that on one occasion when he tried to intervene in a quarrel between two Hebrews, they challenged his authority.

But God guarantees his support and his protection, saying:

I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.

In Egypt at the time of this story, that seemed a very remote possibility for the Hebrews.

Today, let us ask ourselves what mission we have been given by God as our contribution to building the Kingdom. And, if, like Moses, we are only too conscious of our shortcomings, let us remember that one of the greatest prophets of Israel was a man who had committed murder, even if that murder was in defence of fellow-Hebrews. God, unlike society, does not look at our past, but at our present and future potential.

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Wednesday of Week 15 of Ordinary Time – Gospel

Commentary on Matthew 11:25-27

Yesterday we saw Jesus severely chiding the people of three cities, where he had shown many signs of his divine origin, for their slowness to believe in and accept him. Today he speaks with warmth and praise of those who have become his followers.

He remarks, in a prayer he makes to his Father, that it is not the learned and clever, the scribes and Pharisees, the religious experts, but “the infants”, his disciples, who have been graced with understanding the secrets of the Kingdom.  They are infants not only in their lack of learning and sophistication, but also in their openness to hear and learn, a virtue lacking in those who regarded themselves as intellectuals.

This was in fact a reflection on the actual development of the early Church.  It was a grassroots movement which spread most among the lower levels of society and among slaves.  It would not be until later that Christianity spread to the higher echelons and would become the faith also of the ruling elite and the intellectual classes.  As Jesus says today:

…yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

In growing and spreading in this way, Christianity showed, first, that it was really the work of God.  It worked against powerful forces which tried very hard to obliterate it, but in the end the power of truth and love were too strong for even the strongest opponents.

Second, it revealed the truly catholic nature of the Christian faith.  It was never an exclusive domain of either the political or educated elite.  It has appealed, and continues to appeal, to people at every level of society from intellectual giants like Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and John Henry Newman to the totally illiterate.  Both can sit side by side and together hear the gospel and celebrate the Eucharist.

Finally, Jesus suggests that knowing him and, through him, knowing the Father, is a gift that he gives.  We can all, of course, open ourselves to that gift.  Why some of us do and others do not is something we cannot understand in this life.  It is a gift which is offered, never imposed, and again no one can know who are those who have been offered it and turned it down.

Let us today thank God that we have been among those who have listened and accepted and been graced. But we know we have a lot more listening and accepting yet to do.  Jesus stands at our door and knocks today and every single day.  It is my decision to what extent I open that door and let him come in.

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