Rescue me

The texts in the Roman Catholic Lectionary today can be viewed in the light of their connection to the plea of the psalmist “rescue me” (Psalm 69:14). The Book of Exodus traces the birth and exile of Moses which includes rescues from the edict of the Pharaoh to execute the male youth of Israel and the consequence of his murder of an Egyptian who was attacking a Hebrew. The tone of the plea of the psalmist for a return to an intimate relationship with the Divine is the call of all people when the need of the restoration of this communion becomes apparent. We are aware of those opportunities when we did not choose to be closer to our Creator and Sustainer. The Gospel of Matthew presents the anguish of Jesus as He laments over the failure of the citizens of the “Unrepentant Cities” to see, hear and accept the opportunity that has been presented to them. This failure to grab the opportunities is very human. Some commentators base the severity of the ‘judgement’ of God on the magnitude of the opportunity that we reject. The truth, though, is that we often miss the opportunity because we are not aware. Our senses fail to see the signs. We can be confident that our cry like that of the psalmist will be heard and we will again give praise for the grace, love and mercy of God.