GENESIS AND EXODUS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 15^th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, Genesis and Exodus.

For the 1^st Reading of these weekday Masses, we just finished three weeks of readings from Genesis and now we have two and a half weeks from  Exodus. 

As I have said a few times, in the last few years, for weekday homilies, I’m more interested in the first reading than the gospel. I’ve been doing the gospel at Mass for the first 40 or so years as priest - and the first reading screams out, “What am I chopped liver?”

And for folks who come to daily Mass,  I would assume that you would want to know more about the first reading - because you’ve been hearing the gospel for 40 or so years as well.

So the title of my thoughts for today is, “Genesis and Exodus.”

MORE INTERESTING

It seems to me that most of Genesis and the first 20 chapters of Exodus - have the grab - have the interesting stuff.

Once we get to chapter 20 of Exodus and the receiving of the Covenant, the Ten Commandments - then the Bible can get tough. It’s then we get into the Law. It’s then we hear long lists of rules and regulations, etc. etc. etc. Then when we move further into the Pentateuch - that is, the first 5 books of the Bible - most people get lost - scratch their head or yawn.

So Genesis and Exodus are the important books - and Exodus really only up to Chapter 20.

Hope that explains my rationale for today’s homily title and what I’m doing up here in the pulpit.

A MAJOR DECISION

I once went to 3 day workshop by Tom Berry - entitled “A New Creation Account.” He spent much of his life putting that new account together.

He took 3 days -  a whole weekend - for him to give us his rendition of the creation account.

It was much longer than the first two creation accounts - as found in Genesis. Obviously, we know a lot more today than people knew about creation in Biblical times.

During that workshop, that recital, of A New Creation Account, Father Tom Berry, a Passionist priest said Judaism and then Christianity had a decision to make.  Which do we stress more: creation or redemption, Genesis or the Exit, the Exodus?

There are Redemption and Sin situations in Genesis, but he was talking in broad strokes.  Genesis stresses creation; Exodus stresses Redemption.

And since I was a Redemptorist, Tom Berry said, “We have 2 Redemptorists here - and that choice to stress redemption has affected their whole lives as preachers.”

As far as I know there were no religious orders that stressed creation over redemption.  The only theologian that stressed creation first would be Matthew Fox and Teilhard de Chardin - in a way.

EXPLAINED IN ANOTHER WAY - IN BROAD STROKES

Let me explain what I’m trying to say as follows.

Genesis sets the stage - gives us the whole world and all the players on the stage. 

If we’re at a play, we see the curtain open and we see on stage where the play is going to take place.

Then as the play goes on, a problem happens. Someone is stuck.

Exodus deals with the problems.

In Exodus, the big problem as we heard in yesterday and today’s first reading from Exodus, is the Hebrews have fallen out of favor.

The Egyptians are the bad guys. They enslave the Israelites. They want all the sons thrown in the river.

We know the plot. We’ve seen it in a thousand movies and TV programs.

We know the solution: a hero is needed to save the people.

In the Jewish Bible,  that hero is going to be Moses.

In the Christian scriptures, that hero is Christ the New Moses.

We heard the first sound out of Moses mouth in today’s first reading, “the baby cries.”

We saw the first action from Moses hand in today’s first reading, Moses kills the Egyptian who is hitting the Hebrew.

There are the two jobs of a prophet: they scream and they save.

I suspect - but I’m biased - that’s where the action is - redemption.

Help! Save me! Redeem me.

It’s when we need to be saved, or to save another, that is key. Flowers are nice, but when we see someone who needs help and we help and save another, we’re not going to stop to smell the flowers.

Now that dynamic happens in Genesis - in smaller ways, but it’s here in Exodus when the need for redemption happens big time.

Jesus saw both - but salvation happens big time with Christ.

Jesus told us to spot the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, but we can relate more  to stories about 2 sisters - one of whom is complaining because her sister is sticking her with all the work. A father has 2 sons, one leaves home - hits bottom, messes up - but comes home for redemption. He’s forgiven, saved, redeemed. Then we hear about  the older brother who won’t forgive his brother who has returned. He is mad that his father forgave his brother. Who’s in need of redemption now?

in the gospels, we hear about bread and fish, mountains and the Lake of Galilee, but the real stories happen when we hear that Judas betrays Jesus. Peter denies Jesus. Sheep and coin people get lost. People want to throw rocks at a woman who got caught committing adultery.

There it is the same plot as in Exodus.

In Exodus is people are in trouble. Moses gets them to escape. Then they complain as they make their exodus down the road to safety. Then there is a whole series of complaints in the desert - and it takes them 40 years to get out of there to safety.

CONCLUSION

So it’s nice to have a nice house and a nice garden, to be creative like God - but where we spend lots of energy with God is with family problems - and world issues.

People come to St. Mary’s and say, “How beautiful this Gothic Church is - but they really come to St. Mary’s or any church when their spouse has cancer or their daughter is having a tough pregnancy - or when a grandson is on drugs and they need an exodus, an exit, out of their addiction.