Dt 31:1-8 / Mt 18:1-5,10,12-14
We first encountered Moses when he was an infant being rescued by the pharaoh’s daughter from a basket floating down the Nile. And as the book of Exodus unfolded, we watched Moses slowly evolve from an arrogant young courtier who thought nothing of committing murder to a man with quite a different view of life and of himself. In today’s reading, we see the finished product of a life of living, most of it reverently in the presence of the Lord. How remarkably Moses changed! How clear he had become about the faithfulness and the trustworthiness of the Lord.
Watching Moses’ lifelong saga unfold challenges us to ask where our own journey has led us thus far and where it yet needs to go. Is there excess baggage that needs to be abandoned at the side of the road? Are there holes in our inner fabric that need to be mended or filled in? For every human being, the answers to those questions will always be "yes" as long as we’re in this world. The Lord understands this (even if we don’t!) and he urges us every day to have no fear of looking within, for he has promised that, whatever the task, whatever the challenge, we will always have what we need for the work of the day. Trust that and open your eyes as Moses did.
