My brothers and sisters, our readings this week reveal who God is, as well as how we should approach Him. Let us open our hearts to learn from our readings to know and appreciate who God is in a deeper way.
In our 1st reading, as Moses was tending the sheep of his father-in-law, God reveals himself to him through a burning bush. Moses sees a bush on fire, but notices it is not being consumed. Understandably curious, Moses approaches the bush for a closer look. As he approaches, he hears the voice of God calling him by name. So first, we learn that God knows Moses by name, he has intimate knowledge of who Moses is. Then God tells him to come no nearer but to take off his shoes for He is on holy ground. This gives us some insight to how we should approach God. The burning bush is extra-ordinary, no one, including Moses, has ever seen a bush on fire but not being consumed. And so it should be approached differently, more special, than we approach anything else. God is extraordinary, and so we should not approach God with a casual attitude. We should approach God in reverence for who He is, but to do so we must come to know who God is for ourselves.
READ MOREMy brothers and sisters, in our 1st reading, God enters into a Covenant with Abram. A covenant is a sacred oath saying that God will be faithful to Abram and Abram will be faithful and let God be God in his life. However, we know that God’s people didn’t uphold their vow to the Lord, but God had mercy and entered into other covenants over the centuries with Moses and David. Jesus Christ has entered into a final and ever-lasting covenant with us, and this and every Mass, indeed every Sacrament, is a renewal of God’s and our vows of faithfulness to each other. Although we so often don’t keep our vows to the Lord, God is merciful and invites us to repentance and renew this covenant once again. Mindful of this covenant renewed in this Mass, let us see how this covenant is played out in our lives.
READ MOREWe have entered into the great season of Lent. We can call it a desert time--a time to grow in simplicity and purification and to focus on building a deeper relationship with our Lord. St Luke in our Gospel tells us that before Jesus begins his public ministry, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert, if you are familiar with the bible you will notice that before the important figures of salvation history can begin their work, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Jeremiah, David, and so on, there is a period of testing or trying. Much like after the schooling, medical students, for example, will go through an internship, a period of testing, before they can begin their work. And this time is important; it has a very significant purpose. Just as Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert, so we too are led by the Holy Spirit into our desert during this season of Lent. May we see Lent as an important time for us.
READ MOREEven though we are still in Ordinary time, at least until Wednesday, still we are called to conversion. Each of our readings today speak to us about a transformation that God desires for each of us, for our own good. Let me start with our Gospel and as I describe the scene, I invite you to picture yourself as Simon.
Our Gospel from Luke comes shortly after Jesus began his public ministry in which he preached in the Synagogues around Galilee and was praised by all. He even went to his hometown of Nazareth and proclaimed that He was the Messiah, the fulfillment of all the prophets. And although those in Nazareth threw him out, many people throughout Galilee were seeking Jesus and bringing to him all who were sick, or possessed with a Demon, and Luke says that He healed them all.
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