TUESDAY OF THE FIFTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

13TH JULY 2021

THE THINGS THAT WE DO ARE POWERFUL

EXODUS 2:1-15

PSALM 69:3.14:30-34

MATTHEW 11:20-24

In order to understand today's First Reading, let us bear in mind that the population of the Israelites in Egypt has grown exponentially to the chagrin of the Pharaoh who also does not know the role that Joseph played in the previous regime.

This big population of the Israelites in Egypt makes the Pharaoh have hate and fear towards them and orders the Egyptians to enslave them and cast into the Nile sons that will be born to the Hebrews.

Moses is born under or in these circumstances but he will be spared from this cruelty by the daughter of Pharaoh who adopts him from the river Nile. What does this act by Pharaoh's daughter mean?

It means that Moses will grow up and lead the Israelites out of captivity from Egypt. He will later deliver God's law to the Israelites and guide them through the wilderness both physically and spiritually.

Let us remember that what Moses did was enabled by the decision that the women( Moses' mother and his sister and Pharaoh's daughter) took, they took a chance that later came with changes.

I doubt very much that they thought they were changing the world but indeed they were, just by being faithful and by following the dictates of their hearts and by heeding to the call of conscience

You never know when what you say or do will bring a change. Do you believe that what you could do or what you could say can change the world? If you do not do what you are supposed to do at a particular moment, who will do it yet it is you who is there and not the other person who is not there?

What you do or say may prevent bullying, may promote peace, may encourage vacations in the church, may prevent crime, may bring good people into national leadership, may positively embolden someone in their faith or even make the environment cleaner.

The things we do: our actions, choices and decisions have consequences that conquer evil the way Pharaoh's evil was conquered. No wonder we see that though Moses killed an Egyptian he did so as a way of questioning what was wrong in the society.

As we reflect on what Moses' mother and sister and Pharaoh' s daughter did, we also have the opportunity to think of things that prevent us from doing : Is it lack of finances, is it fear, is it because you may not be in a position of leadership or influence like Pharaoh's daughter, is it what people will say about you, is it the socio- economic, intellectual or ethnic difference you have with someone?

Pharaoh's daughter was of a different ethnic background from Moses but she still did something that saved Moses' life.

Are there people in our society today be it in the church, schools, our families, workplaces or in our neighbourhood who are as vulnerable as Moses was and may need a basket to be woven for them so that their lives may align with God's own life giving work?

While Pharaoh tries to make the Nile River, Egypt's main source of water and life, into an instrument of death, the three women allies succeed, making the river a place of rescue and life. In what areas or where do you think God is calling you to do something that will powerfully promote and preserve life and bring positive changes?