The Word Among Us: A Catholic Devotional based on the Daily Mass Reading & Meditation for Tuesday, 14 July 2015

The Word Among Us: A Catholic Devotional based on the Daily Mass Reading & Meditation for Tuesday, 14 July 2015

Meditation: Exodus 2:1 A man from the family of Levi took a woman also descended from Levi as his wife. 2 When she conceived and had a son, upon seeing what a fine child he was, she hid him for three months. 3 When she could no longer hide him, she took a papyrus basket, coated it with clay and tar, put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the riverbank. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.5 The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe in the river while her maids-in-attendance walked along the riverside. Spotting the basket among the reeds, she sent her slave-girl to get it. 6 She opened it and looked inside, and there in front of her was a crying baby boy! Moved with pity, she said, “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children.” 7 At this point, his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Would you like me to go and find you one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” 8 Pharaoh’s daughter answered, “Yes, go.” So the girl went and called the baby’s own mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter told her, “Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will pay you for doing it.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. 10 Then, when the child had grown some, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter; and she began to raise him as her son. She called him Moshe [pull out], explaining, “Because I pulled him out of the water.”
(iii) 11 One day, when Moshe was a grown man, he went out to visit his kinsmen; and he watched them struggling at forced labor. He saw an Egyptian strike a Hebrew, one of his kinsmen. 12 He looked this way and that; and when he saw that no one was around, he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. 13 The next day, he went out and saw two Hebrew men fighting with each other. To the one in the wrong he said, “Why are you hitting your companion?” 14 He retorted, “Who appointed you ruler and judge over us? Do you intend to kill me the way you killed the Egyptian?” Moshe became frightened. “Clearly,” he thought, “the matter has become known.” 15 When Pharaoh heard of it, he tried to have Moshe put to death. But Moshe fled from Pharaoh to live in the land of Midyan.
One day, as he was sitting by a well,
Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin (Memorial)
She was moved with pity for him. (Exodus 2:6)
Have you ever thought of what might have happened if Pharaoh’s daughter hadn’t opened that basket? Or what if she had opened it but had gone about her business? This woman may seem like a minor character, but she played a vital role in the deliverance of Israel. And in a sense, she mirrored the God who would deliver the Israelites. Moved by pity and parental care, she reached down and rescued a lost child. Doesn’t that sound a lot like what our Father has done for us?
So what about you? What are some situations that move your heart? It might be the sight of an impoverished child or the realization that many people go hungry and cold every day. It could be the loneliness of a co-worker or the exhaustion of a neighbor working two jobs just to make ends meet.
Sometimes these realizations move us to action, and we make a difference in someone’s life. But there are other times when we feel moved, but the urge to do something gets lost in everything else we have to do. Then the opportunity passes, and we miss out on a chance to be Christ to someone.
Maybe it’s a good idea to try to keep track of the times that the Lord moves your heart so that you can remember to do something about it. A prayer journal can be very helpful in this. You could block out a few pages just to write about the things that touch your heart so that you can begin to see where the Lord might be calling you to act. You could write notes on little slips of paper and put them in your Bible. That way, they will catch your attention when you open it.
Do whatever it takes to respond to these little tugs on your heart. You may not be able to do a lot, but many of the saints’ stories began with small actions. Besides, it may seem small to you, but it could be life changing for the other person. The important thing is to take a step and do something. Who knows? You just might help the next Moses!
“Lord, move my heart, and help me to act today.” Amen!Psalms 69:3 (2) I am sinking down in the mud,
and there is no foothold;
I have come into deep water;
the flood is sweeping over me.
14 (13) As for me, Adonai, let my prayer to you
come at an acceptable time;
In your great grace, God, answer me
with the truth of your salvation.
30 (29) Meanwhile, I am afflicted and hurting;
God, let your saving power raise me up.
31 (30) I will praise God’s name with a song
and extol him with thanksgiving.
33 (32) The afflicted will see it and rejoice;
you seeking after God, let your heart revive.
34 (33) For Adonai pays attention to the needy
and doesn’t scorn his captive people.
Matthew 11:20 Then Yeshua began to denounce the towns in which he had done most of his miracles, because the people had not turned from their sins to God. 21 “Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Beit-Tzaidah! Why, if the miracles done in you had been done in Tzor and Tzidon, they would long ago have put on sackcloth and ashes as evidence that they had changed their ways. 22 But I tell you it will be more bearable for Tzor and Tzidon than for you on the Day of Judgment! 23 And you, K’far-Nachum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Sh’ol![Matthew 11:23 Isaiah 14:13, 15] For if the miracles done in you had been done in S’dom, it would still be in existence today. 24 But I tell you that on the Day of Judgment it will be more bearable for the land of S’dom than for you!”

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