Homily for Tuesday
Week 15 of Ordinary Time
July 15, 2025
Ex 2: 1-15
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, N.R.
The Finding of Moses (Alta-Tadema, 1904)
“She
took a papyrus basket … and placed it among the reeds on the river bank” (Ex 2:
3).
From
the start of the story, the destiny of the child of this mother to rescue
Israel is evident. At least one
commentator notes that he’s placed in a basket, tebah in Hebrew, the
same word used in Gen 6-9 for the vessel that saved Noah and his family amid
the waters of the flood, and the same word still used for the cabinet where the
sacred scrolls are kept in a synagog.[1] We’re speaking, then, of God’s action to
preserve his people and carry out his saving will and the people’s action to
preserve the memory of it.
The
child’s mother places this “ark” among the reeds of the river bank. Foreshadowing here: Moses will lead God’s people across the Reed
Sea—a more accurate rendering of the Hebrew yam suph than “Red Sea.”[2] The child is saved in the reeds, and Israel
will be saved thru what happens at the Sea of Reeds (Ex 13:18).
Finally,
Pharaoh’s daughter names the child Moses because she “drew him out of the
water” (2:10). Later, he will draw or
lead Israel thru the water. The name’s Hebrew
root means “rescue.” That’s his destiny,
by God’s grace.
Your
name and mine isn’t related to our destiny until we’re named “Christian,” one
who’s related to or belongs to Christ.
That’s the name by which we’re saved, rescued, drawn out of the water of
rebirth. So God places us in the ark of
his Church and leads us thru or over the waters of death toward Mt. Sinai,
toward his covenant relationship with us.
God
appointed a destiny for Moses and slowly guided him to it. He has appointed a destiny likewise for each
of us and has been guiding us toward it for a very long time, ultimately toward
the fulfillment of the covenant he sealed with us at Baptism.
No comments:
Post a Comment