Bible and Catechism in a Year: Day 34

Exodus 3-4

Moses has his famous encounter with the burning bush.  I am rather amazed at the number of excuses Moses comes up with.  He really doesn't want to do this, but God is patient with him and gives him a number of signs before losing patience with Moses.  "Who has made man's mouth?  Who makes him dumb, or deaf or seeing, or blind?  Is it not I, the Lord?" 

God shares his "name" with Moses, which speaks of his nature as pure being.

So begins Moses' journey.  The end of chapter 4 is a bit perplexing, but after thinking about it (and reading some commentaries) it is starting to make more sense.  Moses apparently did not have his son circumcised, and this apparently was displeasing to God.  When his son is circumcised (and apparently Zipporah knew what was going on), Moses (apparently...there are a lot of pronouns floating around here which make the passage ambiguous) is released by God. 

The bottom line here seems to be that we need to walk the walk if we're going to talk the talk.

Psalm 33

We are urged to rejoice in the Lord, to sing to him a new song, to make melody to him with the harp of ten strings, and to play skilfully on the strings, with loud shouts. 

Then we have some wonderful words of praise for God.  His power, his wisdom, his steadfast love.

"He is our help and shield."  "Let thy steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in thee."

What more is there to say?

Matthew 19:1-15

Here Jesus reiterates the meaning of husband and wife becoming one, and Jesus explaining that divorce is not God's will...for "from the beginning it was not so."  Here he reinstates what God began with Adam and Eve - the one man, one woman, permanent union of marriage.  John Paul II expounds on this passage at length in the Theology of the Body in an eloquent and beautiful way. 

I think it is no mistake that following this discussion on marriage, children are brought to the Lord, and he tells his disciples "do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven."  Children are the blessed fruit of marriage, after all, and the two topics go hand in hand.  Though Christ is saying different things about each, that they are spoken of together says a lot.

Catechism

Summing up on God as almighty, the Catechism asks this question:  "If we do not believe that God's love is almighty, how can we believe that the Father could create us, the Son redeem us, and the Holy Spirit sanctify us?

God is the creator of all, heaven and earth, seen and unseen, visible and invisible.  And for creation, God is able to create a history, and in that history, a plan of salvation.

Tomorrow's Readings:

Exodus 5-6
Psalm 34
Matthew 19:16-30
Catechism 282-289