Thursday 15 July

FIFTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

 

I AM WHO AM. I WILL LIBERATE YOU

 

Introduction

      We pay special attention today to the first reading, in which God reveals his name to Moses. God is he who is, he who is beyond any name, but who will also be known by what he does for his people, the God who told Moses: “I will lead my people out of their misery to a land flowing with milk and honey.” He is the liberating God, whose yoke is a burden of love. God is still this God for us today: totally other, and yet nearer to the human heart than anyone else can be, because he gave us our human liberty, respects it and loves us.

      The gospel assures us that Jesus is with us and that we can go to him with our burdens and questions. The weak and the poor are open to the love of Jesus, for they are aware that they are fragile and vulnerable. He will give them rest and make them aware that what Jesus asks of them is a light burden, for it is carried in love. They will find rest in him.

 

Opening Prayer

Unknowable God,
you are the God whom we know
by what you do for us.
God, give us eyes and hearts to see
how much you care for us, your people.
Be with us, live in us,
that we may live for you and one another
with the same respectful love
with which you have set us free
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Reading 1: Ex 3:13-20

Moses, hearing the voice of the LORD from the burning bush, said to him,
“When I go to the children of Israel and say to them,
‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’
if they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?”
God replied, “I am who am.”
Then he added, “This is what you shall tell the children of Israel:
I AM sent me to you.”

God spoke further to Moses, “Thus shall you say to the children of Israel:
The LORD, the God of your fathers,
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob,
has sent me to you.

“This is my name forever;
this my title for all generations.

“Go and assemble the elders of Israel, and tell them:
The LORD, the God of your fathers,
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
has appeared to me and said:
I am concerned about you
and about the way you are being treated in Egypt;
so I have decided to lead you up out of the misery of Egypt
into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites,
Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites,
a land flowing with milk and honey.

“Thus they will heed your message.
Then you and the elders of Israel
shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him:
“The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent us word.
Permit us, then, to go a three-days’ journey in the desert,
that we may offer sacrifice to the LORD, our God.

“Yet I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go
unless he is forced.
I will stretch out my hand, therefore,
and smite Egypt by doing all kinds of wondrous deeds there.
After that he will send you away.”

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 105:1 and 5, 8-9, 24-25, 26-27

(8a) The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name;
make known among the nations his deeds.
Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought,
his portents, and the judgments he has uttered.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He greatly increased his people
and made them stronger than their foes,
Whose hearts he changed, so that they hated his people,
and dealt deceitfully with his servants.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He sent Moses his servant;
Aaron, whom he had chosen.
They wrought his signs among them,
and wonders in the land of Ham.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.

 

Alleluia: Mt 11:28

Alleluia, alleluia.
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: Mt 11:28-30

Jesus said:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

 

Intercessions

–   For baptized Christians, liberated by Christ, that they may not become enslaved again to evil, we pray:

–   For our Christian communities, that we may be men and women free enough of selfishness to serve one another’s needs, we pray:

–   For all of us, that we can forget ourselves for the sake of loving and helping one another, we pray:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

Liberating God,
you let your Son become one of us
to set us free from our self-made burdens
and to take up with us the yoke of love.
He comes among us today
in the signs of this bread and wine.
Let him lead us to a land
flowing with milk and honey,
of love freely given and freely received,
that one day we may settle for ever
in the promised land of heaven.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.

 

Prayer after Communion

Infinite and independent God,
you let your Son become one of us
to make us autonomous and free
as you are free
because we are your image.
Continue in us, your people, your sacred history
of freedom in responsibility.
Make us free to serve you,
free and available to anyone in need,
free for justice, human dignity and love
in Jesus, your Son and our Lord for ever.

 

Blessing

“I will be with you,” said God to Moses. “I will be with you,” says God to us too. Our living and loving God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary

God’s name and accessibility. Pressing God for his name, Moses is given what he asks, but the answer is not so simple. “I AM WHO I AM.” Certainly the name Yahweh is related to the verb “to be” and, in the simplest terms, he is identified with the God who truly “is” as opposed to the gods of the heathens who “are not.” He goes on to identify himself with the God of the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Whatever the etymology of the name, it became sacred in Israel, was at first pronounced only under sacred circumstances, and then, in the course of time, was not pronounced at all.

Many of us grew up with a marked respect for God’s name, but much of that respect has vanished with the passing of years. Gratuitous and even vulgar invocations of God’s name have become commonplace in our culture, so much so that we hardly notice them. We cannot change the way other people speak, but as Christians, we ourselves should not invoke sacred names in a negative fashion. The name of Jesus Christ is particularly sacred in view of all that God has accomplished for us through his son.

While there is a certain awesome quality to the revelation of God’s name, it is a note of intimacy that appears in Jesus’ words today. Where there is grief or discouragement, it is to him that we should turn for solace. While our responsibilities may at times lead to discouragement, the path of the Christian life is ultimately one of vision and great joy.

The truth is that the one God whom we adore has drawn close to us in Jesus Christ, who calls us to find hope and consola­tion in his life and message.

 

Points to Ponder

Reverence for God’s name

Our closeness to Christ

Bringing our worries to Christ.