God Chooses A People

Homily for Thursday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

The reading from the Book of Exodus might be a little confusing for you because it is another example of how the Lectionary for Daily Mass gives us a condensed version of the passage. We skip verses three through eight and to pick up the reading at verse nine which tells us that Moses reported the response of the people to God. It never mentions their actual response.

When God spoke to Moses for the first time, Moses was told that he should tell the children of Israel that if they obeyed God completely, they would become God’s treasured possession. When he delivered that message, God gave them instructions of how they should prepare for God’s appearance on top of Mount Sinai. Three days later, a dense, dark cloud came down upon the mountain. God’s presence was announced with peals of lightning and thunder and loud trumpet blasts which grew louder and louder the closer God came to the top of Mount Sinai. To the people it seemed that the mountain was on fire. These announcements of God’s presence filled the people with fear and trembling.

The children of Israel have been on a journey – both physically and spiritually – where they have been freed from slavery in Egypt and are rediscovering their identity as God’s chosen people. As they come to Mount Sinai and have this moment of encounter with God, they experience a mysterious and wonderful vision as the glory of God descends upon the mountain.

God chooses to reveal himself through these signs and wonders. Because God is a bodiless spirit, we and the children of Israel cannot possibly know God fully in this world. However, we can be open to what God reveals to us. Jesus Christ is the fullness of that revelation. Even Jesus, who speaks to the crowd in parables, is something of a mystery.

Whether it is amid clouds and lightning and thunder or with the simple words of a parable, God is giving us a choice to accept or reject what we hear. God respects our free will. Consequently, the decision to listen and accept God’s word is ours. God desires a relationship which is built on authentic communication. This requires not just voicing our prayers but listening, pursuing, and reflecting on the ways in which God speaks and what it is that God says. When we commit ourselves to this relationship – this communication – every day, our hearing and our sight will become sharper and better. Our hearts will be filled with joy, and our lips will sing glory and praise for ever to the one who has called us to be God’s people.