A reading from the book of Exodus (3:1-8, 13-15)
Moses was looking after the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led it to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame blazing from the middle of a bush. Moses looked; there was the bush blazing, but the bush was not being burnt up. Moses said, ‘I must go over and see this strange sight, and why the bush is not being burnt up.’ When the Lord saw him going over to look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, saying, ‘Moses, Moses!’ He answered, ‘Here I am!’ Then he said, ‘Come no nearer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’ And he said, ‘I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ At this Moses covered his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Then the Lord said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying for help because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to rescue them from the hands of the Egyptians and bring them up out of that land, to a land rich and broad, a land flowing with milk and honey.
Moses then said to God, ‘Look, if I go to the Israelites and say to them, “The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,” and they say to me, “What is his name?”, what shall I say to them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’ And he said, ‘This is what you are to say to the Israelites, “I am has sent me to you.” ’ God further said to Moses, ‘You are to tell 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 for all time, and this is my title for all generations.
This narrative has enormous significance. It is our first glimpse of the holy mountain, known both as Sinai and Horeb. Moses, who has been tending the flocks of Jethro, finds himself in a life-changing encounter with a holy God. And yet this apparently inaccessible God is the God of named ancestors, a God who has become involved in the past and will be involved in a very significant way now. For God knows the pain and suffering of the people of Israel in Egypt. Deliverance from slavery is promised and we hear for the first time in Scripture the phrase ‘land of milk and honey’. An equally significant feature of this reading is the revelation of the ‘name’ of God, in the mysterious formula ‘I Am who I Am’ (’ehyeh ’asher ’ehyeh). This is the God who ‘is’ but who also ‘is’ for people. The name given to Moses is so sacred that it is never pronounced either in Jewish or Christian tradition.
Psalm 103 (102) That the Lord is ‘compassionate and generous’ suggests that God will indeed intervene in the rescue of his people.
A reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians (10:1-6, 10-12)
I want you to be quite clear, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea. And all were baptised into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. All ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, since they drank from the spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and their corpses were scattered over the desert. Now these things happened as examples, so that we should never set our hearts on evil things, as they did. Do not complain, as some of them complained and they were destroyed by the Destroyer.
Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written down to instruct us on whom the ends of the ages have come. So anyone who thinks to be standing firm should take care not to fall.
The Corinthian Christians must take a warning from the journey of Israel in the desert. Paul links the cloud and the sea to Baptism, and the food and living water from the rock he considers gifts of the pre-existent Christ. Despite such gifts the Israelites did not please God and perished in the desert (Numbers 14). Paul now gives a stern warning to the Christians of Corinth, who have been baptised and are nourished in the Eucharist, to be especially careful, since ‘the ends of the ages’ are near. They should be careful not to fall.
A reading from the holy gospel according to Luke (13:1-9)
On this occasion some people were present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with that of their sacrifices. In reply he said to them, ‘Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, that this should have happened to them? No, I tell you, but unless you repent you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen on whom the tower at Siloam fell, killing them? Do you suppose that they were more guilty than all the other people living in Jerusalem? No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did.’
He told this parable, ‘A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it but found none. He said to the gardener, “For three years now I have been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and finding none. Cut it down: why should it be taking up the ground?” In reply he said, “Sir, leave it just this year and give me time to dig round it and manure it: it may bear fruit next year; if not, then you can cut it down.” ’
This unique teaching of Jesus raises profound problems. Jesus recounts two examples of undeserved suffering, one caused by human cruelty and the other by an accident. It is not appropriate to consider as guilty those who are victims of innocent suffering. Jesus is implicitly recalling the teaching of the book of Job. Yet he repeats the call to repentance, which is always pressing. The parable, in contrast, is an enchanting reminder of God’s mercy. The gardener does not hesitate to ask for one more year, trusting in the leniency of the owner of the garden. Yet the conversation ends without revealing this man’s reply. Is this an assurance of mercy, or a stern warning of the urgency of repentance?
How can God be holy and remote, and at the same time involved with people?
Pray for a balance between presuming on God’s mercy and urgent repentance.