Monday of 16 week in Ordinary Time, July 23, 2007

Scripture: Exodus 14:5-18. Exodus 15:1-6. Matthew 12:38-42. Lectionary #
395:

After some of the tragic events in nature we often read that they are
called "acts of God". This happenes when we experience news of hurricanes,
tornados. or earthquakes. However we know well that these happenings can be
explained by natural causes and effects and by scientific analysis. What
we hear of today in the readings from the Hebrew Scriptures and from the
Gospel are very special "acts of God" that are extremely important in the
identity of the two great monotheistic religions, that of Judaism and
Christianity.
It is Moses who speaks of an immediate future of liberation for Israel even
though the chariots and horses of Egypt are upon the heels of Moses'
people. Jesus, too, is speaking of the immediate future whereby his
resurrection will be the freeing of the human race from the tragedy of
death through the promise of an afterlife. Moses delivers the truth and
the correct understanding of an act of God takes place. These are the
magnanimous and transcendent actions of a loving God who liberates all
peoples from oppression and depression. The Exodus is more than a symbolic
story; it is the divine intervention of God in human history that brings
about absolute freedom for Israel and also freedom for those believers who
are not Jewish but believe in the reality of the Exodus and its inspired
message. Jesus speaks to his opponents about the immediate future of his
death and resurrection through a use of Jonah's story of being in the belly
of a whale or large fish. The story of Jonah is from a novella. The story
of Jesus' resurrection springs from an "act of God" in the biblical
meaning of that expression--a saving act in the history of salvation. Both
Judaism and Christianity are given great assurance through these two
identifying acts of God. Both become people of hope for the future through
them. We all need such memorable events in our minds and memories that
lead us to a faith of the heart. This makes all the difference in some of
the chaotic happenings we experience personally or as people of planet
earth. Amen.