The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
Moses grew up in a culture that didn’t worship the God of Israel or follow the commandments. He might have heard of the Lord from the Hebrew women that surrounded his household. But as a son of Pharoah and a prince of Egypt, being the rich and powerful young man he was, he probably indulged in all the pleasures and luxuries the pagan world could give, not really knowing any better.
So when God appears to him from the burning bush, it’s no surprise that “Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.” Like many people of his time and culture, he believed that if you saw a divine being you would die. But I imagine he also felt deeply ashamed in the presence of God.
And so he hid his face. Afraid to look at God, afraid to die.
But God surprises Moses. Moses hides his face—and God speaks to him. God calls out to him to come closer.
We often hide from God, thinking that because we’re not already perfect, we couldn’t possibly be worthy to be in His presence or hold any meaningful conversation with Him. And it’s true, we’re not worthy.
But still God loves us unconditionally.
Even in our sinfulness.
I think this is one of the hardest teachings of the Church. Truly, only God could’ve revealed this to us.
As St. John Paul II put it: “We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of the Father's love for us and our real capacity to become the image of his Son.”
We don’t have to run and hide our faces from Him, thinking that we can approach Him only after reaching perfection. The God who met Moses in the depths of his sin shows Himself to be the God who loves without limits.
Let us make this our sacrifice this Lent: to believe in God’s merciful love, especially when we feel like we don’t deserve it.
Conrad Espino is a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Chicago. Please pray for him!