WORD 2day: Thursday, 15th week in Ordinary time
July 18, 2019: Exodus 3: 13-20; Mt 11: 28-30
The Word presents the name of God to us today. Speaking of the name of God, I am reminded of an experience, exactly this time some seven years ago. I was in a parish in the north of Italy, to substitute a parish priest during his days of Spiritual Retreat. There were a few elderly ladies who were regular for the daily Eucharist and after the celebration everyday, they spent some time talking to me. They loved to hear of the Bible and one day the most vociferous of them asked me - "Is there a name for our God!" Before I could say, "Yes, it is Jesus!", she intervened and said, "I mean, God the Father! Does God have a name?" And I quoted to her today's reading and said, "Yes, our God is I AM. Or when we say it...Our God is WHO IS". She was thrilled to know the name of God, and was going around telling everyone, the name of God, the new discovery that she has made. When the Parish priest returned a week later, one of the first things she told him was, "Fr. you know, I know the name of our God. Our God is, WHO IS, or I AM, or YAHWEH"...And the Parish Priest was a bit upset; he turned to me and said - "No Christy... That is the God of the Hebrews!" I did not want to pick a theological argument with the Parish priest...but I thought to myself - "Yes...that is the God of the Hebrews, and therefore the God of Jesus too...the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as St.Paul would say (2 Cor 1:3; Eph 1:3; Col 1:3)." It is not just a name - it was an experience. It has to be our experience today: the God who IS, who is with us, all the time.
Apart from the name of God, the word that dominates the first reading today is 'Go'... Yahweh sends Moses to the Pharaoh. The term that stands out in the short but sweet Gospel of today is, 'Come'... the Lord invites the burdened to come and rest.
Come and Go... they may look like two opposite words but the reason given for both the movements is the same. Because I am with you, says the Lord. Go, for I am with you. Come to me, for I am here for you! Coming and going...refer to the docility of the chosen, the willingness and readiness with which a messenger of the Lord vows to act. Every day and in ways mysterious and means ordinary, the Lord keeps sending us these instructions: come, go, speak, share, remain, endure and so on... are we prepared to listen and eager to act upon it?
We need to be people who come and go, do everything, in the name of God, who is with us!
Apart from the name of God, the word that dominates the first reading today is 'Go'... Yahweh sends Moses to the Pharaoh. The term that stands out in the short but sweet Gospel of today is, 'Come'... the Lord invites the burdened to come and rest.
Come and Go... they may look like two opposite words but the reason given for both the movements is the same. Because I am with you, says the Lord. Go, for I am with you. Come to me, for I am here for you! Coming and going...refer to the docility of the chosen, the willingness and readiness with which a messenger of the Lord vows to act. Every day and in ways mysterious and means ordinary, the Lord keeps sending us these instructions: come, go, speak, share, remain, endure and so on... are we prepared to listen and eager to act upon it?
We need to be people who come and go, do everything, in the name of God, who is with us!