When Moses encounters God in the form of a burning bush on
Mt. Horeb, he has no doubts about what he is experiencing, and hides his face for he [is] afraid to look at God. In this Sunday’s reading from Exodus, when Moses asks for
clarification of God’s name, God responds, I
am who am. The present tense verb am is telling: God is offering the Israelites a new
understanding of God as a constant, active presence in their lives, capable of
reaching into human difficulty and changing it:
I have come down to rescue them
from the hands of the Egyptians, God says. God is always with them, a
living presence, active in their lives, merciful
and gracious, abounding in kindness (Psalm 103) – effective if they are
aware of it, and embrace His call to relationship.
Although we don't always have "burning bush moments" to spur us on, our own response to God’s call to relationship can’t be
selective, as Jesus tells the people in our reading from Luke. Timing is
important! The people killed when the
tower of Siloam fell on them could not have known the moment of their demise;
the fig tree gets a reprieve only through the intervention of the gardener, who
promises to tend it and help it bear fruit.
Whoever thinks he is standing
secure should take care not to fall, Paul tells the people of Corinth.
While God may always be active in our lives, it is up to us
to recognize God’s presence, to be actively
faithful to relationship, blessing the
Lord with our whole soul and being.
Jesus is our spiritual rock, our
spiritual food and drink, it is true; but he is a life-giving source only if we
are open to it, if we are willing to accept the life he gives us, a life in
which he is alive within us, and among us.
We are called to reject passivity and actively receive Christ in our
lives, daily, ever anew. It is a radical notion
of dynamic relationship: to choose to actively grow in
God’s presence, living our faith, embracing the Christ we find among us every
day.
This reflection is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.
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