So, does your name tell who you really are? It seems different today than it was in the\npast, doesn\u2019t it? Because today, our\nlast name identifies our family; and our first name usually refers to a name\nthat is popular, or maybe a name from a close relative- a Grandma or Grandpa or\nAunt or Uncle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It didn\u2019t use to be that way. Millers were millers, Smiths were Blacksmiths;\nand in my case, my family were the people that lived by the brook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And in the ancient world things were different too.\u00a0 The ancients valued their name because it told who they really were.\u00a0 Moses wanted to know what this mysterious God\u2019s name was because he knew that the name would transmit the essential information about who God really was.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And God tells him very simply: \u201cI am who am\u201d. So simple, and yet so packed with meaning. God\u2019s name implies that he is and always has\nbeen and always will be. God describes\nhimself as one who existed always- before anyone or anything else. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He doesn\u2019t say he was the God of those\npatriarchs; rather, he is still their God. \nAnd that says a lot too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don\u2019t know about you, but when I think about God as having\ncreated everything, the universe and any companion universes; and everything\nand everyone that has ever lived; and that he relates continually to everyone\nand everything at the same time; well, that puts me in an awesome fear of God. He is so mighty and eternal; and our\nabilities are so limited in time, space, and capacity. It is truly humbling to think of ourselves in\nthe face of God, no matter how gifted we might be in the eyes of the world. We are nothing compared to our God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now God speaks to Moses about how he heard their cries for\nhelp and was answering them. And the\nwhole Exodus story is an awesome example of how this transcendent, almighty God\nacted in their behalf. He saved the\nIsraelis from the Egyptians with mighty works. \nSo, God intervened out of love for his people. But still, the God of the Old Testament\nseemed remote and above us all. His love\nwas mysterious and veiled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today\u2019s Gospel is short and sweet. Jesus, who is also God- the second person of\nthe Blessed Trinity- says this to us: \u201cCome to me all you who are burdened, and\nI will give you rest.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have travelled through the Liturgical year. Jesus came, lived, preached, suffered, died,\nwas resurrected from the dead, and returned to the Father. So, our God deigned to send his Son to be one\nof us- He became present to us in ways that we could all understand. The Incarnation provides us with an alternate\npicture of God from the almighty, totally transcendent God of the Old\nTestament. As Jesus says himself, \u201cfor I\nam meek and humble of heart.\u201d Yes, God\nis almighty and above everything and anything we can understand. But He is also meek and humble of heart. In the face of almighty God, that is what\neach of us is called to be as well- meek and humble of heart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You see, we have a brother, the Son of God who became like\nus in every way except for sin so that we could put aside the fear of the\nalmighty. Jesus gave us the example of\nhis own life so we could see how we could become close to Him. We do that by following the example of Jesus\nin the Gospel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And just what is that.?\u00a0 Well Jesus became who God wanted him to be.\u00a0 Jesus sought the will of God for Him and lived that life. That is what we are all called to do as well- to be the person God calls us to be.\u00a0 We are called to be:\u00a0 Mothers, fathers, priests, nuns, caregivers, providers, defenders of the faith, artisans, scholars, athletes and many other things.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are each gifted with missions and talents tailored just for us but to give glory to our creator.\u00a0 That is who we are; and that will be our name forever.\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thursday of the 15th Week in Ordinary Times Ex 3: 13-20; Mt 11:28-30 Deacon Larry Brockman So, does your name tell who you really are? It seems different today than it was in the past, doesn\u2019t it? Because today, our last name identifies our family; and our first name usually refers to a name that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[593],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1158"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1158"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1159,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1158\/revisions\/1159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}