Reflection for Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

My pastor asked me to write and present a reflection for the remaining Tuesdays of my assignment.

July 16^th Reflection 

Ex 2:1-14A, Ps 69:3,14,30-31,33-34, Mt 11:20-24

 

Did God change between the Old Testament and the New Testament? We often fall into the trap of thinking that God was harsh in the Old Testament and merciful in the New Testament.  Today’s Gospel clearly shows Jesus condemning entire towns just like God did in the Old Testament.  In most other New Testament passages, we clearly see the mercy of Jesus.  We hear today about God’s mercy to Moses, saving him from the Nile.

 

So what is going on here?  Did God change? Or are our perceptions in error? Our catechism teaches that God never changes, so it must be our perceptions that are in error.  God of the Old Testament certainly handed out His share of punishment, but was merciful to His people Israel again and again.

 

We get into trouble when we try to describe God as a human being.  God’s ways are so far above our ways, we cannot understand His ways.  If we try to describe God, we limit God.  As my Philosophy professor was fond of saying, “God is God, and we are not”.  In fact, he frequently reminded us that “God is”.  This simple message is good for us to keep in mind.  Jesus became man to cross that gap between God and man, but God (and Jesus) is still God.

 

Many in today’s society say that, “The Church is out of touch, it needs to modernize”.  I respond, “The Church is in touch with the unchanging God, society has changed”.  Society, as a whole, is trying to become god, to write its own set of commandments.  Our brothers and sisters in the world need our prayers to rediscover the one unchanging God.  I pray that those playing at god will find the true God’s mercy…a mercy that is full and complete…a mercy that we can never fully comprehend.