In today’s first reading, Exodus 16: 1-5, 9-15, the
Israelites grumble against God, angry that they are out in the desert, fearful
of dying of famine. “Would that we had
died at the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our fleshpots and
ate our fill of bread!” Through Moses
and Aaron, God tells the Israelites to “[p]resent [themselves] before the Lord, for he has
heard [their] grumbling.” He tells them
that “[i]n the evening twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you
shall have your fill of bread, so that you may know that I, the Lord, am your
God.”
God always comes through, responding to our needs in ways
that far exceed our expectations.
The psalmist, in Psalm 78 of today’s liturgy, states “They
tempted God in their hearts by demanding the food they craved. Yes, they spoke
against God, saying, ‘Can God spread a table in the desert?’”
As I prayed over these Scriptures, I, too, had to admit the
many times I have grumbled against the Lord and how many times have I not
demanded “the food” that I craved--whatever that “food” might have been:
sometimes the healing of a loved one, at other times a smooth interaction with
someone, still at other times that I triumph over my weakness almost
miraculously without a struggle or that I find, instantaneously, that for which
I am looking. And on and on and on!
How many times have I not, like Mary of Magdalen, in today’s
Gospel, gone looking for something, not even Jesus, and found the “tomb” empty
and when God in disguise stood before me, entered my “desert,” responded to my
desperate cries, I did not recognize Him.
In what ways do these Scriptures resonate in your life?
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