Daily Readings Reflection for 7/26/11

Scripture for Tues. July 26 Lectionary # 402: Exodus 33:7-11; 34:5-9,28.
Psalm 103: 6-7,8-9.10-11. 12-13

"The Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as one man speaks to
another." What an extraordinary revelatory insight on the part of the
inspired writer to describe the relationship of Moses with God. We strive
to do the same in our meditations, our prayers, and our reflections upon
God's holy word that we are privileged to hear in the celebration of the
liturgy. Both word and sacrament are available for most of us each day.
Such an interchange is at the center of what it means to pray and to enter
into dialogue and contemplation with God as the person with whom we are in
communication.

We yearn to have this special shared intimacy with our God and Creator; we
identify ourselves with the People of God both through the Old Testament
and through the New Testament which was always a part of our heritage. We
realize that the Bible is a reflection of ourselves and that it has meaning
most often literally but also figuratively. Once we understand that both of
these ways of looking at the text help us to grow and to get rid of some of
our bad interpretations of the passages that hurt our current
sensibilities. Often a refresher course on a DVD or at a local college on
the Old Testament will help us get over some of our hangups that we have
ingrained in us from our earliest years.

Like the Israelites we need to stay near our own tent and not be in the
intimate atmosphere of Moses with God in the descending cloud from Mount
Sinai. Patience, study, and reflection sometimes take years to obtain what
Moses enjoyed with God. We stand in awe with the People of Israel as our
leader Moses and then Jesus show us what loving intimacy with God means.
The saints of both testaments are of great help since they are one with us
in our humanity and our search for God. They have obtained union with God;
we are wayfarers on the road to Calvary with Jesus and often it is a long,
painful, and lonely journey. We stand in reverence and awe as we yearn and
desire to experience what they and Moses have experienced in their prayer
lives.

Moses is able to name God, "Lord" or Adonai. He hears God telling him,
"The Lord, the Lord, is kind and merciful and gracious as God, slow to
anger and rich in kindness and fidelity." We too hear this in the
liturgical response of our Psalm:"The Lord is kind and merciful." Our Psalm
takes us back to the narrative of our first reading where Moses is central.
Like Moses the author of this beautiful psalm 103 is totally dedicated to
God and God's Holy Name. We pray as we say the Benediction Prayer: "
Blessed be God. Blessed be his Holy Name." Amen.