livingtheword

Printable Study Guide and Resource is HERE

Reflection Questions • In this key reading from Exodus, we enter that special moment in the growing covenantal relationship with God when the LORD tells Moses on Mt Sinai, that he has chosen Israel to be his own possession, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation formed of the twelve tribes. This covenant is an outgrowth and extension of the Lord’s covenant with Abraham 600 years earlier. (Gen.15:9- 21, 17). God remains true to His covenant no matter how people may fail. What does that tell you about God’s character?

• The imagery calls the people to remember God’s faithfulness in freeing them from slavery and raising them up on Eagles wings. They would have been familiar with Eagles nests on craggy peaks where chicks were tenderly kept safe and cared for. They would have also seen Eagles teach their young to fly by bearing them on their wings, releasing them and then swooping underneath them to gather them onto their wings if they floundered. Living in God’s love involves ongoing growth, failure, and return. When have you sensed God keeping you safe or challenging you to stretch and grow?

• The authority of God, (… all the earth is mine), is clear, yet God views Israel as precious and holy treasures even when they fail to uphold the covenantal relationship. God’s mercy is always underneath our failures, calling us to trust and try again. Share or talk with God about your fears and failures, and your desire to fly high. How are you being encouraged to holy living and freedom in your life?

• St Paul uses the terms ‘reconciled’, ‘justified’, and ‘saved’. What do these mean to you? To reconcile is to end separation and hostility. God is not hostile to us, but humanity is often hostile to God. Because of that hostility and sin, we fail the human side of the covenant. We are not ‘right with God’ (righteous). God’s faithfulness to the covenant results in Jesus becoming one with us. Jesus enters our human condition and reconciles us to God and one another within himself. Jesus overcomes our sin and its consequences through his love and obedience as both God and man.  Only in Jesus, can we be ‘right with God’. In his absolute self-giving love for both God the Father and sinful humanity, we can be made holy and justified. Sharing in the Resurrection life of Christ will lead us to share in his glory. We are saved with Christ; we are being saved day by day through Christ and we shall be saved in Christ at the
final judgement. Where do you hear those three words ?

• God was always the shepherd of Israel. When Jesus called the twelve, he formed the new Israel, a new ‘twelve tribes’ to make God’s Kingdom of mercy, healing, peace, love and care available to all. This is the mission of every Christian. God calls each of us by name. How open am I to responding to God’s call to serve those around me with care and courage in Jesus’ name?

• How does knowing God’s tenderness toward you help you share the Kingdom?

• What at is one action you will do to be ‘livingtheword’ this week?

Pope St John XXIII said, “Consult not your fears, but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.”

This resource prepared by Bev McDonald, Lay Marist in the Auckland Diocese; ACSD.