15 June 2014
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
In
today’s first reading, the Lord is preparing to give Moses a second chance.
Some time has passed since Moses received the Ten Commandments and then smashed
them in anger at Israel’s idolatry. God now commands him to return to Mt. Sinai
with blank tablets in hand.
It
seems that Moses may be reluctant to return, knowing as he does his people’s
disobedience. But God gives him a word of encouragement: God's own name, which we translate as “LORD.” And the reassurance is made more profound in God's cry to Moses: “The LORD,
the LORD,
a God gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love and fidelity.”
Do
we, at times, also hide from God out of fear or shame? It is easy to distance
ourselves from God, but when we do that we vastly underestimate the Lord’s
goodness. In times like these, can we hear in God’s very name the reassurance
that Moses experienced.
This
passage seems an odd choice for so solemn a feast as The Most Holy Trinity. But
as we think about it there are so many gifts wrapped up in the Sacred Name of
God. There is obviously the triune Godhead, Father, Son and Spirit who call to
mind the unfolding of love within the richness of salvation history. There is
the unique unity of three persons that draws us into the essence of true
Christian community. And lest we forget, there is the compassionate nature of God, so
beautifully illustrated in this passage from Exodus.
The
next time we utter the Sacred Name of God, let us be reminded of the Lord’s reassurance
to Moses and to us: I am gracious,
merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love and fidelity. And let us hear in these words another
invitation from our gracious God: Bring
the blank tablets of your heart to my holy mountain and there I will forever
inscribe my name.
The author, Ms. Barbara Gawle, leads Bible studies at her parish, Incarnation Church of Wethersfield, CT. She is a CBS graduate and the 2012 recipient of the Biblical School's highest award, The Lawrence Boadt Memorial Medal.
