The Promise

A Reflection on the First Reading for March 20th:
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.”

It was February of 2019. I was standing at the top of Mount Tabor in Israel, about to enter the Church of the Transfiguration.
 

There are moments in time where I have felt especially close to the divine – and inside this church I experienced one of them. It was astoundingly beautiful and eerily ancient. In my smallness, I was unable to understand the depth of what occurred in this place in the history of scripture. It was there that Jesus met the spirit of Moses and Elijah before taking his rightful place as King of Heaven.
 

In the first reading for this Sunday, we hear about those first moments when God revealed Himself to Moses. I’m sure Moses had no idea what road lay ahead of him. Certainly, he did not expect to meet God as He takes His place in heaven, becoming united with the Father, nor could he have imagined being the man who, in obedience to God, frees his people from slavery. Moses was a mere shepherd. What would the God of all creation want to do with a shepherd?
 

In a similar way, we may find ourselves looking at God and wondering what He sees in us, what future He has in store for us. Like Moses, we can feel that same heaviness of not knowing where God wants to take us. It can be so easy to lose sight of eternity when caught up in day-to-day life. I’ve been there. Heck, I am there. In those moments, I like to daydream about the Church of the Transfiguration on the top of Mount Tabor. There is where God completed His promise to Moses and all of humanity. There is where I am reminded that we have a God who keeps His promises.
 

We might not be able to see all this in the heaviness of our lives today. It seems impossible to understand the tapestry of our world, but it’s ok, because God does. Despite the sadness, confusion and yearning for change, God sees us and loves us through it. He holds the keys to the mystery of life. We are simply human like Moses and hopefully, when we are called to step into greatness, we will rise to the occasion by the grace of God.
 

Jesus, we ask for the grace to see where You are calling us and the courage to act on it! 
​Jesus, we trust in You.
 



Theresa James

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