Third Sunday of Lent
Third Sunday of Lent (Exodus 3: 1-8a, 13-15) “Look Who is Chasing Me”
“I fled Him, down the nights and down the days.
I fled him down the arches of the years.
I fled him down the labyrinthine of ways
Of my own mind; and in the midst of tears
Hid from Him and under running laughter.”
These are Words of Francis Thompson’s poem, “The Hound of Heaven.” His poem reflects the common experience of resisting an intimate relationship with God. When we read the story of Moses, we can’t help but be reminded of Thompson’s poem. Moses tried to run from God. He wanted God to remain at a distance. We all remember Moses’ birth in Egypt. He was saved from death as an infant. Pharoah was killing all the Israelite boys because he was worried about the growing Jewish population. We might say that this was one of the first recorded instance of genocide.
Moses was saved when he was set adrift on the Nile River in a basket by his mother. Pharoah’s daughter found baby Moses. She raised him as a prince. One would think that Moses would have had a suspicion that he had a higher purpose. But after he murdered an Egyptian who was beating a Jewish slave, he ran away to Midian where he married and became a shepherd. He planned on living in hiding.
But then came the story we read today. God reminds Moses he has a unique destiny. He is to lead the enslaved Israelites to freedom. What do we see Moses do? He makes excuses. We have the short version of the conversation God and Moses had in the first lesson. Moses says, at first, “I don’t know what to say. God gives Moses his name, Yahweh. Which means, “I am who I am.” Our Lord says it doesn’t matter what you say because I am the one speaking.
Moses next says that he can’t go because people will not believe his words. God then gives him a staff that will turn into a snake. When Moses grabs the end of the snake it turns into a staff again. God tells Moses numerous miracles will cause everyone to believe. Moses then reminds God he has a speech impediment. He can’t speak well enough to convince anyone of his mission. But God won’t be dissuaded. God appoints Aaron to speak for Moses. God accepts no excuses. In the end Moses becomes so intimate with God his face shines with divine radiance.
We all are sons and daughters of God. But how many people have rejected a relationship with God? The number of people in our country who say that they no longer believe in God has grown a lot over the last few years. Do we see the burning bushes that are around us? What are the spontaneous fires that should cause us to grow close to God?
Perhaps we could point to the polarization in our world as well as in our church. We have such deep division whether we label those divides liberal or conservative, black and white, republican or democrat the fissures are there. We feel them. What power could unite us again. St. Paul felt these divisions in the church in Corinth. In the Letter to the Corinthians 3:3 he says, “For wherever there are jealously and quarrels among you, are you not of the flesh? And isn’t your behavior that of ordinary people?”
We could also point to the burning bush that is the war going on in Eastern Europe. Again, we feel so impotent as we look at the innocent suffer. What could stop it. Paul reminds us in Galatians 5:22 that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patient endurance, kindness, faith, mildness, chastity and generosity.” If everyone sought intimacy with God, the world would realize that our calling is not to disharmony and violence but to solidarity and peace. God is always inviting each one of his daughters and sons back to him.
We could again recall Francis Thompson. Thompson was an English poet who was born in 1859. He felt like he spent his life running from God. In many ways he did. He was the son of a physician. He felt pressure to achieve. His father wanted him to study medicine, which he did. He felt disheartened. He felt satisfied when he was writing poetry, but writing wouldn’t support him. He was shy and depressed.
He ended up a street person. He developed an addiction. Opium was his drug of choice. He becomes penniless. He lives with a prostitute who took care of him. He calls her his savior. In the end, he realizes that he had been running from God’s designs his whole life. He expressed his spiritual struggle in his poem, “Hound of Heaven.” He compares God to a hound that was on his trail. Wherever he ran the dog followed. He grew to believe that one day God would catch him. In the last lines of the poem, God says:
All which I took from thee I did but take,
Not for thy harm,
But just that thou might seek it in my arms.
All which thy child’s mistake
Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home:
Rise, clasp My hand and come!
Thompson did not seem to accomplish much, but he was the inspiration for writers like Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton who inspired millions. Thompson’s intimacy with God led to much good despite his sense of failure. What might God accomplish through us? Are we ready to let God clasp our hand this Lent?
Reflection Questions:
- How intimate am I with the Lord? Do I push God away at times? Why?
- Has God nagged me through the years? How?
Dear Parishioners,
Laetare Sunday is March 27th. Laetare is a Latin word which means praise. We give praise that we have made it halfway through Lent. If we have not been too conscientious about our penance so far, we can always get a fresh start. It is never too late to begin our spiritual exercises.
Another reason to be glad on Laetare Sunday is that we will be starting to have congregational singing again. Maybe some of us have been singing along the last two years, but now we can let our voices ring out. We have tried to play it safer during the pandemic in our church services. Singing was considered one of the most dangerous activities we could engage in. But now, with infections down, we lift our voices.
Singing is a huge part of our worship. We have all heard the saying from St. Augustine, “The person who sings prays twice.” I would agree. Singing releases endorphins like laughter does. These chemicals in the brain give us a sense of wellbeing.
We hope to return to choral singing in the fall. The plan is to try and recruit music ministers through the spring and summer. Please watch our bulleting for more information. We thank all the music ministers who have soldiered on during the pandemic, especially Cheryl Bolt.
May Our Lady of Peace pray for our violent world today.
Fr. Mark