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Third Sunday of Lent
March 11, 2007

Isn't it amazing how simply a memory can get triggered…a smell, a sound, a sight, or an action can transport us over the years to something that touched us and left a deep imprint in our hearts? How many millions of dollars have been spent over the years taking pictures and videos — not for the sake of the pictures but for the intense memories that the pictures conjure up. And memories last a life time.

In today first reading from the Book of Exodus, we have a true memory making story for Moses — an experience that changed his life and created a memory that lasted all of his days.

Moses is out doing his normal daily work — tending the sheep of his father-in-law when he comes upon a curious sight — a burning bush that is not consumed by the fire within. He starts to investigate when he clearly hears God's voice call him by name: Moses, Moses, take off your shoes because you're standing on holy ground. The ground is holy of course because that is where God is speaking to him and where this life-changing event is about to take place. God calls Moses by name and in turn Moses wants to know what God's name is — essential for any relationship. God tells Moses that He has witnessed the suffering of His people at the hands of their slave drivers and has heard their prayer; God then asks Moses to lead His people from the slavery of Egypt to a Promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey, a land where they can be free.

We can just imagine the impression such an experience left in the heart of Moses. For the next forty years, Moses depended upon that memory to keep him going. Through all the difficulties of wandering through the desert, this memory kept drawing him back to God, to renew that initial call and to provide strength and sustenance for that journey.

As we hear so many stories in the Gospel readings about Jesus and the impact He had on people He encountered, we can also just imagine the memories that were created for His apostles who spent day and night with Him — memories which sustained them through the difficult early years of the church.

Lent is also a time for memories — a time to remember how God has been there in our own personal histories. Whether Lent itself sparks those memories, or other seasons of the year like Advent or Christmas or Easter, we all have memories of the way God has entered into our lives and made us who we are today. Sometimes those memories were created by people or events, and simple reminders can conjure up not only the experience but the feelings and the warmth involved.

Memory is a tremendous gift God has given us, not simply to enrich our lives but as a vehicle to recollect God's faithfulness to us. God called us by name at Baptism and continues to call us into the intimacy of His love — a love that leaves a warm nurturing trail throughout our lives. During our Lenten season — we remember how God loved us to His death and into His resurrection.