Looking for the Extraordinary

A Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, March 23rd, 2025:
Third Sunday of Lent

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Exodus
3.1-8a, 13-15​

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; Moses looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.

Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.”

When the Lord saw that Moses had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” Then God said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

God said further, “I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

But Moses said to God, “If I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and this my memorial for all generations.”

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

I have always been fascinated with the Exodus story and the burning bush that was “blazing, yet it was not consumed.” The Lord comes to me in extraordinary ways, BUT do I take time to watch for the extraordinary in my life or do I just put my head down and plow through? When I see the extraordinary, how do I respond? I can honestly say that in my own life I have seen the extraordinary and kept walking! That sounds crazy to write, but it is the truth; perhaps I am the only one who can say that, in which case you don’t need to read any further. 

When Moses sees the bush he turns off his path to look more closely. God calls him by name and requests that Moses remove his sandals, because where God is, the ground is holy. So the next question I have to ask myself is, when I am in the midst of God and His holiness, how do I acknowledge that holiness? 

I believe that the Eucharist is the burning bush of my life. My problem is that I often live my life with that “head down and plow through” attitude, and so I am only vaguely aware that the holy ground “I am standing on” is Jesus, present in the Most Blessed Sacrament. This is not me advocating for everyone to go barefoot to the altar. Rather, perhaps I need to recognize that the holiness that I am entering into in Mass should elicit a preparation, an interior change that opens my heart and soul to receive Him Who gives Himself freely to me. 

This preparation/change is different for everyone. If I am a mother with small children, my preparation isn’t going to be a time of quiet, as it might be for a nun. If I am struggling with health issues my preparation will “look different” than that of a healthy person in some ways. I cannot compare my journey with anyone else.

There are many other burning bush moments in life, and as I journey in faith, I am called to seek the grace to see these moments and to recognize the holiness and respond to it as God calls me. This isn’t something that can be listed on paper, but it can be sought in prayer, trusting that God hears those prayers and answers them.
 
So, what was the purpose of the burning bush? To speak to Moses and prepare him to lead God’s people out of Egypt to the Promised Land. I am struck by the reality that the burning bush was not the end of a story or “happily ever after moment.” In fact, Moses’ life got a lot more complicated after that bush caught his attention. 

The message I need to cling to in my life is that the God who said to Moses “I AM WHO I AM” is the God of the present. He is with me now and always. So, like Moses, I will leave the holy moment and experience the challenges and difficulties of life, but I will never experience them alone. God is with me!




Sister Teresa MacDonald

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