Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time 

The Responsorial Psalm gives us a distinguishing characteristic of God: “The Lord remembers his covenant forever” (Psalm 105). God never rejects us. The word “steadfast” appears 187 times in the Bible. 

In Exodus 3: 11-20 Moses asks how the Israelites will know that God has sent him to them. And the proof he asks for is the fundamental proof that accredits every true minister: “If they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” Authentic ministry is grounded in personal knowledge of God. If we are just the ministers of a “system” or a “religion,” no matter how good, but without personal — and preferably intimate — knowledge of God, who will listen to us? Who should? 

God tells Moses at this point that his name is “I AM,” which emphasizes God’s transcendence. God is that Being whose existence needs no cause. If we could see him as he is, we could not ask, “Where did he come from? What caused him?” because we would see him as the only Being in existence who has within himself the cause, the reason, the unrequired explanation of his existence. We know, even from reason alone, that such a Being has to exist; otherwise the existence of contingent beings like ourselves would be unintelligible and all human reasoning ultimately absurd. If we see a line of freight cars moving uphill, we don’t know what is pulling them, but we know it has its own source of power. The same is true of things that exist but have no source of being within themselves. There has to be an Uncaused Cause one that does not need a cause. God’s name is I AM, the One who is because he is what he is. 

Later, when God showed his “glory,” his deep, interior identity, to Moses, he “passed before him, and proclaimed, ‘The LORD… a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness’” (Exodus 34:6). A minister who is not “merciful and gracious,” and whose ministry does not express above all God’s steadfast love and faithfulness does not know God. Such a one is not to be trusted. 

Also, a minister who is not faithful to the tradition of revelation from Abraham to the Apostles is not speaking of the Christian God. “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your ancestors… of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has sent me to you.’” The ministers of revelation respect revelation all the way to its roots. 

In Matthew 11: 28-30 Jesus identifies himself as characterized by “steadfast love and fidelity.” “Come to me… I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” His ministers should be able to say the same thing. 

Initiative: Be a priest. Show you know God by treating all with kindness.

— Fr. David M. Knight

View today’s Mass readings, Lectionary #392, on the USCCB website here

Fr. David M. Knight (1931-2021) was a priest of the Diocese of Memphis in Tennessee, a prolific writer, and a highly sought after confessor, spiritual director, and retreat master. He authored more than 40 books and hundreds of articles that focus primarily on lay spirituality and life-long spiritual growth.