A child-like comparison?

Prayer for the Day

I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and learned you have revealed them to the childlike.

Reflection

We often search for signs, for some kind of indication that we are doing the right thing, making the right decision, or at least heading down the right path. It would be helpful if those signs could be as visible as the one Moses received from God (Exodus 3:1-6, 9-12).  It’s hard to miss a burning bush. What God was asking Moses to do was an enormous task so a shrub that is flaming but not consumed seems an appropriate signal.

Moses isn’t sure he’s up to the task: “Who am I to do this?” he asks God. I do that too, sometimes when I know I should be doing the right thing, but peer pressure and habit can lead to the easier way. But, like Moses, I can’t use the excuse that I was just walking by and happened upon a burning bush.  I have to do the right thing simply because it IS the right thing and I can because God is with me.

The gospel of Matthew (Matthew 11:25-27) is simple, yet powerful.  It carries through the theme of how we each are chosen by God. You do not have to be the wise and learned – some things are revealed to the childlike.  To me, that means that I can be chosen by God as a leader in my own life, even as I continue to work on understanding and learning what that role should be and how I should live that life. My relationship with God evolves and changes as I evolve and change.

I wondered what it would be like to encounter the burning bush as Moses did.  Then the thought crossed my mind (the Holy Spirit?) that there is a ‘burning bush’ available to all of us!  It may seem like a stretch, but I think I can make an argument that the Monstrance that holds and displays our Lord Jesus Christ for adoration is a ‘burning bush’. The same would hold true for the Tabernacle.  We still have to pay attention, to pray and to be open to what God has in store for us. Even if the path seems hard and little traveled, we have to remember that God is with us.