THE WORD THIS WEEKEND

 This weekend at Catholic mass you will hear a passage from the Book of Exodus.  This book covers the Jew's escape from Egypt, their trials in the desert and their eventual entrance into Israel.  There is an interesting line in the passage.  Moses is talking to God and asks God what He would like to be called - what should I tell the Israelites your name is.  God's answer was tell them "I am who am."   I don't know if we lost something in translation or what.  It's definitely strange English.    Here's what I think that means.  In English we have past, present and future tenses.  We would say, "I was, I am and I will be."  The point here is that God has no past or future as we understand them.  He always was and always will be.  Think about that.  It is a hard concept to get your mind around.

The Gospel reading is from Luke's version that includes a parable about the fruit of a tree but, more importantly, a message for those to whom he was preaching and to us.  In essence he says, do not think that those who suffer most on earth are receiving punishment relative to their behavior.  Those who suffer misfortune on earth are not necessarily those who most deserve punishment.  Don't fall into the trap of thinking that you must be doing okay in God's eyes since everything is going smoothly for you.  That is NOT the way it works.  

The message from the parable about the fruit tree is that God is merciful - but only to a point.  His love is boundless - his mercy is immense but only to a point.  Don't test God with continual bad behavior.  There will come a time for each of us when the trial of our existence is over.  

Have a great weekend.  I love you.  

I will definitely have a great weekend because we are celebrating my eldest daughter's birthday today and her mother's on Monday.  PTL  We are blessed.