Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
From: Exodus 17:3-7
The Water from the Rock
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[3] But the people thirsted there for water and the people murmured against Moses, and said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?" [4] So Moses cried to the Lord, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me." [5] And the Lord said to Moses, "Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand the rod with which you struck the Nile, and go. [6] Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, that the people may drink." And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. [7] And he called the name of the place Massah' and Meribah, because of the faultfinding of the children of Israel, and because they put the Lord to the proof by saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?"
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Commentary:
17:1-7. The severity of desert life (notably hunger and thirst) leads God to help the Israelites in various ways, all of them full of theological implications. The miracle of the manna, which was preceded by that of the water which Moses made drinkable (15:22-25), is followed by a new work of wonder to do with water: Moses causes water to flow from a rock. This happened at Rephidim, probably what is now Wadi Refayid, some 13 km (8 miles) from Djébel Müsa.
The sons of Israel's faith in God and Moses has been strengthening little by little; but they often doubt whether God is there at all (v. 7). They begin to murmur and to seek proofs of his presence: have they been brought out of Egypt to die, or to attain salvation? The water which Moses causes to come out of the rock is a further sign to bolster their faith. This episode names two places--Meribah, which in popular etymology means "contention", "dispute", "lawsuit", and Massah, which is "proof', "test", "temptation". Many biblical passages recall this sin (cf. Deut 6:16; 9:22-24; 33:8; Ps 95:8-9), even adding that Moses himself lacked faith and struck the rock twice (cf. Num 20:1-13; Deut 32:51; Ps 106:32). Lack of trust in the goodness and power of God means tempting God and it is a grave sin against faith--even more so in the case of Moses, who had experienced God's special love and who ought to have given good example. When man meets some contradiction or some difficulty he cannot immediately solve, his faith may waver but he should never doubt because "if deliberately cultivated, doubt can lead to spiritual blindness" ("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 2008).
There is a rabbinical tradition which says that the rock stayed with the Israelites throughout their sojourn in the desert; St Paul refers to this legend when he says "the Rock was Christ" (1 Cor 10:4). On the basis of biblical references to the wondrous nature of waters (cf. Ps 78:15-16; 105:4; Wis 11:4-14) the Fathers said this episode prefigures the wonderful effects of Baptism: "See the mystery: 'Moses' is the Prophet; the rod is the word of God; the priest touches the rock with the word of God, and water flows, and the people of God drink" (St Ambrose, "De Sacramentis", 8,5, 1,3).
Reconciliation Through Christ's Sacrifice, the Basis of our Hope
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[1] Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. [2] Through Him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God.
[5] and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. [6] While we were yet helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. [7] Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man—though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. [8] But God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.
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Commentary:
1-5. In this very moving passage God helps us see "the divine interlacing of the three theological virtues which form the backing upon which the true life of every Christian man or woman has to be woven" ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 205). Faith, hope and charity act in us in turn, causing us to grow in the life of grace. Thus, faith leads us to know and be sure of things we hope for (cf. Hebrews 11:1); hope ensures that we shall attain them, and enlivens our love of God; charity, for its part, gives us energy to practise the other two theological virtues. The definitive outcome of this growth in love, faith and hope is the everlasting peace that is of the essence of eternal life.
As long as we are in this present life we do have peace to some degree--but with tribulation. Therefore, the peace attainable in this life does not consist in the contentment of someone who wants to have no problems, but rather in the resoluteness full of hope ("character") of someone who manages to rise above suffering and stays faithful through endurance. Suffering is necessary for us, because it is the normal way to grow in virtue (cf. James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:5-7); that is why it is providential (cf. Philippians 1:19; Colossians 1:24) and leads to joy and happiness (1 Thessalonians 1:6).
"A person who hopes for something and strives eagerly to attain it is ready to endure all kinds of difficulty and distress. Thus, for example, a sick person if he is eager to be healthy, is happy to take the bitter medicine which will cure him. Therefore, one sign of the ardent hope that is ours thanks to Christ is that we glory not only in the hope of future glory, but also in the afflictions which we suffer in order to attain it" (St. Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary on Romans, ad. loc.").
A person who lives by faith, hope and charity realizes that suffering is not something meaningless but rather is designed by God for our perfecting. Perfection consists "in the bringing of our wills so closely into conformity with the will of God that, as soon as we realize He wills anything, we desire it ourselves with all our might, and take the bitter with the sweet, knowing that to be His Majesty's will [...]. If our love is perfect, it has this quality of leading us to forget our own pleasure in order to please Him whom we love. And that is indeed what happens" (St. Teresa of Avila, "Book of Foundations", Chapter 5).
5. The love which St. Paul speaks of here is, at one and the same time, God's love for us--manifested in His sending the Holy Spirit--and the love which God places in our soul to enable us to love Him. The Second Council of Orange, quoting St. Augustine, explains this as follows: "To love God is entirely a gift of God. He, without being loved, loves us and enabled us to love Him. We were loved when we were still displeasing to Him, so that we might be given something whereby we might please Him. So it is that the Spirit of the Father and the Son, whom we love with the Father and the son, pours charity into our hearts" (Second Council of Orange, "De Gratia", Canon 25; cf. St. Augustine, "In Ioann. Evang.", 102, 5).
6-11. The friendship which reigned in Paradise between God and man was followed by the enmity created by Adam's sin. By promising a future redeemer, God once more offered mankind His friendship. The scale of God's love for us can be seen in the "reconciliation" which the Apostle speaks about, which took place on the Cross, when Christ did away with this enmity, making our peace with God and reconciling us to Him (cf. Ephesians 2:15-16). The petition in the Our Father, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us", is an invitation to imitate the way God treats us, because by loving our enemies "there shines forth in us some likeness to God our Father, who, by the death of His Son, ransomed from everlasting perdition and reconciled to Himself the human race, which before was most unfriendly and hostile to Him" ("St. Pius V Catechism", IV, 14, 19).