(Listen to this homily here).
As we hear the beginning of the exodus story—when God
delivered His people out of Egypt—we are introduced this morning to our hero
Moses.
Exodus
2 recounts the wrath of Pharaoh as he had killed the Hebrew baby boys. To save
his life, his mother placed him in a basket and hid him in a clump of reeds in
a river. Moses was actually named
for how he was saved: “…she
said, ‘I drew him out of the water’—this is what Moses means.
Imagine the peril the baby Moses
was in sitting in that basket in the water! Yet think about what happened later in Moses’ life—he led
the Hebrews through the Red Sea on the path to freedom.
How often God uses experiences—especially
negative ones—to bring victory later.
I think here of my friend Fr. Albert in Ghana. As a young boy he was uneducated, poor and served as a
shepherd. Now he is a priest—a shepherd
of souls!
Or imagine Alcoholics
Anonymous. What began as a group
of individuals struggling with an addiction has led to a fellowship that has
helped millions of men and women experience freedom from addiction.
I know in my own life, the sins and
weaknesses through which I have struggled for many years, have prepared me to
help others in similar challenges.
This is especially true in the confessional or in counseling.
And today, we celebrate St. Kateri
Tekakwitha—the first American Indian saint. Having received the Gospel in the 17th century she
lived an austere and prayerful life.
For this she was ridiculed and persecuted. Over three hundred years later there are Kateri circles
around our country and she serves as an inspiration not only to the first
residents of this land, but to us all.
Let’s trust that God has a plan for
everything we experience today.
Even if we face challenges, He will use them for His glory if we are
open.
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