By Beth DeCristofaro
Moses, hearing the voice of the LORD from the burning
bush, said to him, “When I go to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The
God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ if they ask me, ‘What is his name?’
what am I to tell them?” God replied, “I
am who am.” Then he added, “This is what you shall tell the children of Israel: I AM sent me to you.” (Exodus 3:13-14)
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek
and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. (Matthew 11:28)
Piety
The sparrow finds a
home and the swallow a nest for her young:
by your altars, O Lord of Hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are they who dwell in your house
forever singing your praise. (Communion Antiphon for the Day)
Study
Layoffs and employment
implosions are incredible. We’ve experienced both in our family. Twice my
husband was let go due to corrupt employers…he would not take part in either
the fraudulent behavior or the intended cover-up. I’ve been part of two organizations which
experienced melt downs resulting in drastic staff cuts. The first time we went
through this our children were quite young and we were without health
insurance. We were committed to being creative and mutually supportive without
panic and it worked. Friends, family, church, our dentist and prayer helped us
out with material and spiritual support. We ate lots of macaroni and cheese
which was a favorite of our children anyway.
Truth be told, Tony
handled this much better than I did, focusing on the practical and knowing that
he had made right moral decisions. My reaction was anything but meek. I was
livid and indignant at the injustice of it. There were certainly moments of
anxiety. But, our help truly was in the Lord as we found ourselves bearing this
burden with greater ease than I expected.
In today’s readings
we meet two faces of God, both of whom are great in our lives and in the
world. “I AM” says the fierce, powerful,
burning God of Moses. God speaks in the
present tense. God is always and God meets
us always. He is within, above, beside,
behind and before us when we come to a precipice. This fierce God is in the precipice. We also meet
the gentle teacher who is humble yet just as powerful, placing his Word within
the Father and inviting us to enter into that relationship with Him. He makes
the precipices of our lives into places of new life if we can but enter with
Him.
Action
Many of God’s friends
have been “laid off” from the lives that they knew. Moses, Abraham, Peter, Paul, St. Kateri
Tekakwitha all left their comfortable lives at God’s invitation with far less
than what my family had during our hard times.
Who am I when I am no longer hold a position as volunteer manager or
marketing director? How do I accept
Jesus’ yoke on myself rather than rely on a cultural role? In prayer, remember those who have lost jobs
and are suffering deep hardships.
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