Exodus 3: 13-20
But Moses, hearing the voice of the Lord from the burning bush, said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’:
This is my name forever,
and this my title for all generations.
Go and assemble the elders of Israel, and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying: I have given heed to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt. I declare that I will bring you up out of the misery of Egypt, to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ They will listen to your voice; and 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 met with us; let us now go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ I know, however, that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders that I will perform in it; after that he will let you go.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Called Despite Self-Doubt
Months ago, I began a new vocation alongside giants of faith whom I enjoy and admire, for a ministry that inspires and exceeds me. Daily I face a reckoning. Namely, do I will my way to perform, do I recoil in self-doubt, or do I surrender to God’s on-going call in spite of my shortcomings?
In the Exodus passage today, Moses arrives at a significant inflection point in his life. After forty years as prince of Egypt, and another forty years as fugitive for murder, Moses is beckoned and commissioned by God to help deliver Israel. No small call! And though Moses’ self-doubt seems warranted, the Creator deals directly with his creature, communicates Godself directly to Moses–“I AM WHO I AM” and assures him of all that God will do for Israel.
In a letter to Ascanio Colonna in 1543, St. Ignatius speaks to the grace that is available to us when we accept, approve and enjoy (!) the invitations of God rather than resist the work due to diminished courage, confidence or capacity. “There are very few people who realize what God would make of them if they abandoned themselves entirely into his hands, and let themselves be formed by his grace.”
How is God dealing with you directly as his beloved creature? Where is God communicating himself to you that invites both greater surrender and deeper trust in the I AM?
—Sharon Krone is Director of Ministry at Bellarmine Jesuit Retreat House in Barrington, Illinois, and a supporter of the Ignatian Spirituality Project.
Prayer
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who know our weakness and yet have called us to follow your Son, accomplish in us what you accomplished in Saint Ignatius and in all our Saints and Blesseds, and help us to work generously under the banner of the Cross. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
—Adapted from the General Congregation 36, Rome 2016
Pray with the Pope
Pray with the monthly prayer intentions of the pope.