Getting to peace

The praise of the psalmist in the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today is for God who has saved His people from the snare of the fowler. This prayer looks beyond the details shared in the texts from Exodus and the Gospel of Matthew. The Semite rulers of Egypt who accepted Joseph and his family from Canaan have been overthrown. The Israelites are seen as a foreign threat within Egypt. They are oppressed and forced into slavery. The male children of the Israelites are ordered to be killed. We understand that the mighty arm of God will free the Israelites from the snare of the fowler through the leadership of Moses. It is natural for believers to wonder why the lives of these people, who would be freed by God, were lived in such difficulty. Friar Jude Winkler addresses some difficult sayings of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew which we find difficult to associate with the Prince of Peace. We know from history that the impact of the acceptance of Jesus Way by some has been their rejection, oppression and persecution by others. We also can find evidence that many of the wars in our history were fought with “God on our side” (and on both sides). The surrender of our will and what we may hold closer than our relationship with God is necessary to fully live in Christ. When ideas, country, economic security, ethnicity and even family come before our relationship with God, the Kingdom of the Prince of Peace is given second priority. We need to surrender our selfish motivations as we praise God for saving us from the fowler’s snare.