Exodus 11 and 12: It’s true that you can find almost anything in the Bible, including a cookbook! God gives detailed instructions to Moses and Aaron about selection and preparation of the food for the Passover meal, including proper attire and posture while dining. Today many people would immediately conclude these were silly, superficial, ridiculous rules that make no sense. Giving these directions no heed, many today would ignore them outright. Assuming the Angel of Death were not to take them that night (as was the case at the Exodus), these persons might eventually learn what God was trying to teach them: if they could trust Him in small matters like this, they’d be prepared for greater trials ahead. They’d learn to trust God when He asked them to cross a raging sea of water, and they’d trust Him to slake their thirst and feed their hunger for 40 years in an empty desert. They’d trust Him when they grew ill from serpent bites, or when terror-stricken at the blare of trumpets and the quake of thunder as Moses went up the mountain. They’d trust Him finally when He showed them a fertile land of promise and asked them to take possession of it with His guidance and providence. (Lord, open the eyes of my soul to see where I do not trust You, where in my self-reliance I do not surrender, and where I judge Your ways to be unworthy of total abandon to Your loving will. Give me the grace to trust You in all things at all times.)

July 19, 2013
Msgr. William J. King