To God's Name Give the Glory

In today's first reading, Acts 14: 5-18, the people of Lystra were so awed when a crippled man was healed by Jesus through Paul and Barnabas that they attempted to worship them, believing that "the gods have come down to us in human form." Paul and Barnabas were appalled and were able to stop them, saying to them "[w]e proclaim to you good news that you should turn from these idols  [Zeus and Hermes] to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them." 

It is easy to forget that whatever good we do is done by the Lord using us as His instruments. It is not us doing the good or the healing or the whatever. God works through those who believe.  We pray in today's responsorial psalm "Not to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory," but how often are we not seeking the glory that belongs to God and making idols out of ourselves!

Called to set each other free

Today’s first reading, Ex 3: 1-6, 9-2, tells the story of God calling Moses to be his instrument in freeing the children of Israel from Egyptian oppression.  Moses is pasturing his father-in-law’s flock near Mt. Horeb when he spots an unusual sight, a bush on fire but not being consumed. He decides to go over and examine this sight when he hears his name being called. Immediately, he answers “Here I am.”  God instructs him to come no closer and to take off his shoes because he is standing on holy ground.  God then tells him that He has seen His people’s oppression, has heard their cries for help and that He is asking Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.  Moses, who has fled Egypt to escape being killed by Pharaoh because of his crime, says: “Lord, who am I to lead the people out of Egypt?”  God says: “I will go with you.”

We may object to what God is asking of us, as well. We may, rightly or wrongly, judge ourselves as incapable of doing what the Lord is asking of us.  Are we failing to realize that, if God is calling us to a task that will set us free, that He goes with us?  Are we also failing to realize that God does not hold on to whatever misdeeds we may have committed, holding those against us or judging us unworthy to be instruments of grace in other people’s lives and within our own? We are God’s children, God’s beloved sons and daughters whom He has set free.  That means that God will choose us to be His instruments in bringing fuller life to others, in freeing others and ourselves from whatever enslaves us. God wants us to know the freedom, the joy, the satisfaction of being His chosen ones.

What do I need to do today to recognize God calling me to be an instrument of freedom in the world in which I live? What do I need to do to realize that God goes with me into situations that are oppressive to myself and others, that God empowers me to release others and myself from “prisons” we may have created for ourselves?oHo