Third Sunday of Lent Year A

First Reading: Exodus 17 : 3 - 7

3 Tormented by thirst, the people complained against Moses.

"Why did you bring us out of Egypt ?" they said. "Was it so

that I should die of thirst, my children too, and my cattle?"

4 Moses appealed to the Lord. "How am I to deal with this

people?" he said. "A little more and they will stone me!"

5 The Lord said to Moses, "Take with you some of the elders

of Israel and move on to the forefront of the people; take in

your hand the staff with which you struck the river and go.

6 I shall be standing before you there on the rock at Horeb.

You must strike the rock and water will flow from it for the

people to drink. This is what Moses did, in the sight of the

children of Israel .

7 The place was named Massah and Meribah because of the

grumbling of the sons of Israel and because they put the

Lord to the test by saying, "Is the Lord with us or not?"

Meditation

Today's passage moves forward from last Sunday's. We are at another crucial moment in the history of salvation. God's people have left Egypt and are in the wilderness where God rescues them by bringing water from rock. It is an image which remained ingrained in the imaginations of the Jewish people and is often referred to in both Old and New Testaments.

The passage may have been chosen for this Sunday to correspond with the gospel reading of the Samaritan woman where Jesus reveals himself as the "spring of living water". The two stories are different however and it is better to meditate on them separately. This one is a teaching on faith - the faith of Moses which was the faith of Abraham, of Jesus and of all God's people, including ourselves.

The story teaches us that faith is not static. We grow into it by passing through moments of crisis when we feel lost and helpless. This is the story of Moses, the key person of the passage. The journey he makes is one we all make in our different vocations as parents, teachers, community leaders, spiritual guides. The sign of a good meditation is that we feel close to Moses, see him as a dear brother.

In order to enter the story we must get a feel for "rock" and "flowing water" as opposites. Rock is hard and impenetrable, "flowing water" is refreshing and always renewed. Only God's grace can make water flow from a rock, so this story corresponds to similar biblical miracles:

•  the sea provides a safe passage

•  the desert is fertile

•  lion and lamb lie down together

•  the dumb speak and the deaf hear

•  the weak are strong

•  the cross is lifegiving.

Our meditation leads us to celebrate times when we too have experienced similar "miracles". The child, student, member of our community who caused us most anguish, becomes the source of greatest blessings; the sector of our Church or national community which we had written off ends us giving up most satisfaction. We can answer the question posed in verse 7, "Is the Lord with us or not ?" with a resounding yes, "He is with us".

We can read the passage as the story of our Lenten journey. Moses represents our best selves, "the people" our baser selves - selfishness, lust or envy. Like "the people", our feelings "complain bitterly" when we repent and take a different path - to forgive, share, trust etc. To the extent that we are people of faith we "strike the rock", opt to be the best we can be.

The story takes place in five stages and we have experienced each of them.

•  The moment of truth, verse 3.

Moses was feared by Pharaoh and the Egyptians and adored by his people who saw him as their intrepid leader and saviour. Now the euphoria has gone. The people come face to face with the harsh reality that their newly found freedom carries a price; we enter into the bitterness of their complaint against Moses, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt , was it so that I should die of thirst, my children and my cattle?" (Get a feel for the pastoral context: the people love their animals as they love their children.)

We think of times when we begin a new project

•  get married and start a family

•  decide to move our religious or parish community in a new direction

•  start a new political movement.

Things go well at first; we are successful and admired. Then the moment of truth arrives, complaints start coming - from our families, members of our community, other party members, our baser selves. They criticise us bitterly and question our motives.

•  Moses' response, verse 4.

Enter into Moses' feelings of helplessness, "how am I to deal with this people?" his self-pity, "a little more and they will stone me".

We think of other great biblical figures feeling frustration:

•  Elijah, Lord, "I have had enough, take my life, I am no better than my ancestors" (1 Kings 19:4).

•  Jeremiah, "why ever did I come out of the womb to live in toil and sorrow and to end my days in shame?" ( 20:18 ).

•  Jesus, "faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you, how much longer must I put up with you?" (Matt 17: 17 )

•  St Paul , "are you people in Galatia mad? Has someone put a spell on you?" (Gal 3:1).

•  St Paul again, "what a wretched man I am, who will rescue me from this body doomed to death?" (Rom 7:24 ).

We remember similar feelings, when we try to bring reconciliation in family, between management and labour, racial and class group, factions in our parish community, when we fail to overcome an addiction. We think of peacemakers wearied in their efforts to bring peace to warring factions, e.g Israelis and Palestinians, Indians and Pakistanis in Kashmir, the human family divided between have and have nots.

•  The Lord responds, verses 5 and 6.

He challenges Moses to abandon his negative feelings and move forward - to have a right attitude and then take practical steps. He has spoken similar words to us, e.g. directly in as moment of prayer or a bible passage, indirectly through events in our lives or through people. We interpret each of the instructions in the light of our experience.

Attitudes:

•  "Take some of the elders and move to the forefront of the people". Stop pitying yourself and be a leader, parent, husband.

•  "Take in your hand the staff with which you struck the river". Call upon your gifts as you did successfully in the past.

•  "Go" (brief but dramatic). Step out boldly.

•  "I shall be standing there before you there on the rock at Horeb." Do not write off the situation, I am standing there in it.

Practical steps:

•  "You must strike the rock". We must be careful not to interpret this in a magical way. It means, engage the seemingly hopeless situation and allow its potential to emerge.

•  "Water will flow from it for the people to drink." Trust that the situation will change; the community's (human family's) thirst will be slaked.

•  Moses obeys, verse 7a.

The verse is typical of the Bible, extraordinarily concise and yet deeply touching. It reminds us of similar concise statements, e.g. "let it be done to me according to your word, "into your hands I commend my spirit". We celebrate times when we "struck the rock" and water flowed.

5. Conclusion, verse 7b:

This verse tells us the purpose of the story. The people must always remember Massa and Meribah "where the sons of Israel grumbled and put the Lord to the test, asking: is he with us or not?"

Prayer 

 Lord, we thank you for the journey of faith we have made.

It starts with a crisis moment in our lives, when we realise that we must walk a lonely road, while our companions complain bitterly against us; they ask why we brought them out of Egypt , whether it was so that they would die of thirst, their children too and their cattle.

We turn to you, wondering how to deal with them, deeply hurt that a little more and they would stone us.

But you tell us to stop pitying ourselves, you tells us to invite some companions with us, take in our hands the talents we developed over the years and go forth with confidence, knowing that you are there with us standing over the difficult situation.

We strike the rock and water flows from the rock for all to drink.

We remember those times of grace, the Meribah and Massah where we put you to the test, asking is the Lord with us or not?

Lord, we pray for those working for reconciliation in divided communities,

don't let them wallow in self pity, at the thought that a little more and they will be stoned by both sides,

tell them to step out in faith.

Like Moses striking the rock in the wilderness they must challenge the mistrust which has hardened over centuries and let it become energy and life.