Exodus 3:1-6, 9-12 / Matthew 11:25-27
God appears to Moses: The bush burned but
was not consumed.
There wasn’t
anything strange about a dry bush catching fire in the desert and burning. It
still happens in desert countries. What is unusual, however, is that the fire
did not destroy the bush. Moses discovered this to be a sign of God’s special
presence. Fire signaled God’s presence in other sections of the Bible. A column
of fire guided the Israelites in the desert. (Exodus
13:21) A fiery smoke indicated God’s presence on Mt. Sinai when
Moses received the Ten Commandments. (Exodus
19:18). The Holy Spirit descended on the disciples in the form of
fiery tongues. (Acts 2:3). Why
is fire a good symbol of God’s presence? “Earth’s crammed with heaven, And
every common bush afire with God; But only he who sees takes off his shoes; The
rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.” E. B. Browning
*****
As much as we have the ability to see and to hear,
yet the power of observation is like a variable factor.
So as much as
we see and hear a lot of things, we also exercise selective seeing and
selective hearing.
Then from what
we want to see and want to hear, the next thing is what is it that captures our
attention or our interest, and that will be the object of our observation.
In the 1st
reading, what captured the attention and interest of Moses was the bush that
was blazing but it was not being burnt up.
His curiosity
led him towards the burning bush, and that was when the Lord God called out to
him and revealed His plan for him.
Of course it
was the strange sight of the bush that was blazing but not being burnt up that
caught the attention and interest of Moses and he went further to observe it.
We may not
have this unique experience of seeing a burning bush as what Moses had.
Nonetheless
God still reveals Himself to us in what we see and hear, and what catches our
attention and interest.
And when we
"observe" all these signs in prayer, then God will reveal Himself to
us and prompt us to discover His will for us.
So we need to
have the heart of a little child to observe and look deeply at the things
around us. Then we will know that God speaks to us all the time, and reveals
Himself to us in those situations where He wants His will to be done.
