Monday 21 July 2025 - The Lord will fight for you

Monday 21 July 2025

Today is Monday the 21st of July, in the 16th week of Ordinary Time. The St Thomas Music Group sing the Prayer of St Theresa by Margaret Rizza. 'Let nothing disturb you, nothing distress you. While all things fade away, God is unchanging. Be patient, for with God in your heart, nothing is lacking. God is enough.' Today’s reading is from the Book of Exodus. (Exodus 14:5-18) The Israelites have escaped Egypt but Pharaoh has relented and decided to go after them. The Israelites lose confidence and complain to God and to Moses. But God has a plan. How might we pray with this text? How might we work with images of God that are perhaps not quite our own? Let’s try imaginative contemplation with the story just as it is. Remember, if you can’t enter the scene imaginatively, don’t force it, but allow yourself to consider the events however you can . . . Today, you’ll hear the passage interspersed with our reflective questions... Be amongst the Israelites, having escaped the slave-labour of Egypt, you are set free . . . an adventure full of hope lies ahead; God goes before you and your friends are at your side . . . catch the mood of liberation . . . When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the minds of Pharaoh and his officials were changed towards the people, and they said, ‘What have we done, letting Israel leave our service?’ So he had his chariot made ready, and took his army with him; he took six hundred picked chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt and he pursued the Israelites, who were going out boldly. The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his chariot drivers and his army; they overtook them camped by the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.  Imagine the most powerful army on earth gathering all of its resources in a bid to find and smite you. Hear the sound of the chariots; see the weapons glinting in the sun; smell the sweat of the horses; feel the vibration of the air around and earth beneath your feet; taste the sour loathing in the hearts of the Egyptians . . . As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, ‘Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, “Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians”? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.’ But Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.’  Now consider the fear of the people and find yourself with them. The most powerful army on earth has come for you and all seems lost. Your freedom has been short-lived. The adventure is over. Hopes are dashed. Hear the complaints against Moses and against God . . . Hear Moses say, “Do not be afraid, stand firm.” . . . Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. But you lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the Israelites may go into the sea on dry ground. Then I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and so I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his chariot drivers. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained glory for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his chariot drivers.’  Focus on Moses who is in conversation with God . . . watch him move in the direction of the sea with his staff in hand . . . see him raise it aloft . . . watch what begins to happen . . . Stay with this scene as long as you wish . . . at some point, speak with God about slavery and oppression; speak with God about liberation and justice . . . Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be World without end Amen