15th Week, Wednesday, July 19: St. Justa and St. Rufina

 15th Week,  Wednesday, July 19: St. Justa and St. Rufina

Exodus 3:1-6, 9-12 / Matthew 11:25-27

God appears to Moses: The bush burned but was not consumed.

 There wasn't anything strange about a dry bush catching fire in the desert and burning. It still happens in desert countries. What is unusual, however, is that the fire did not destroy the bush. Moses discovered this to be a sign of God's special presence. Fire signalled God's presence in other sections of the Bible. A column of fire guided the Israelites in the desert. (Exodus 13:21) A fiery smoke indicated God's presence on Mt. Sinai when Moses received the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 19:18) The Holy Spirit descended on the disciples in the form of fiery tongues. (Acts 2:3)

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Why is fire a good symbol of God's presence? "Earth's crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God; But only he who sees takes off his shoes; The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries." E. B. Browning

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Anything that seems extraordinary always catches our attention. It may be the northern lights of Norway, double or triple rainbows over a magnificent waterfall or some natural phenomena that have the element of light is always magnificent and wonderful. In the 1st reading, the burning bush, blazing but not burnt up, is so magnificent and wonderful that it caught the attention of Moses, such that he was compelled to look at that strange sight. But it was no ordinary natural phenomenon. The burning bush was a divine manifestation, and when it caught the attention of Moses, it beckoned him to draw nearer.

 But the burning bush was not just to get the attention of Moses nor for his entertainment. Whenever there is a divine manifestation, there is always a call to mission. From that encounter with God in the mysterious burning bush, Moses received his mission. We may not have any experiences with a burning bush like that of Moses.

 But there are burning issues in our lives that are also calling for our attention and action. We may have tried to block out those issues or pushed them aside. But let us be like little children and look at those issues in simplicity and with wonder. It could be that through those burning issues, God is revealing Himself to us and giving us a mission. 

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Is this prayer of Jesus an answer to the problem of yesterday's reading? Do the "poor pagans" get God's revelation and God's grace? This prayer Jesus exclaimed; he did not just recite it. Jesus thanks. Every teacher is grateful when the pupils understand. It is a fulfilment, a joy. Those who understand God's revelation are not the clever ones. Those who think they know a lot, close their minds.  Revelation is not for the keen intellect to comprehend and distinguish but for the open mind of the humble. He receives God's favour. He knows of the overwhelming greatness of God and of his own insignificance before God. Even some pagans were truly convinced of God's greatness and their nothingness before God. In this self- revelation, Jesus tells us that he is equal to the Father. He is God from God, true God from true God.

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God reveals himself as “the one who is there for you,” for his people. God created people free. When people rob themselves or others from their freedom, God’s love is wounded. For God is totally committed to people, to their struggles and sufferings, to their precious freedom. When his people is not free, God is not free. He committed himself so much to our freedom that he sent Jesus among us to free us from sin through his death on the cross. 

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Those open-hearted will understand Jesus and respond to him. To see God, to know that he is with us, to hear the message of the gospel, one must have the openness and receptivity of a child and be aware of one’s poverty. Salvation is given. Those who are filled with their own wisdom cannot hear or welcome him, for they try to conform God and the gospel to their own ideas, not theirs to God’s.

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Prayer: Fire that burns without being consumed, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, you are our God, the God of people. Make us fully conscious that you have committed yourself to us irrevocably and without regret. Continue with us your adventure of love, keep liberating us today from the evil in us and in the world, and lead us to your land of lasting freedom through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

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St. Justa and St. Rufina, Virgins and Martyrs (Feast - July 19) These martyrs were two Christian women at Seville in Spain who maintained themselves by selling earthenware. Not to concur in idolatrous superstitions, they refused to sell vessels for the use of heathen ceremonies and when the worshipers broke up their stock-in-trade, Justa and Rufina retorted by overthrowing the image of a false goddess. Whereupon the people impeached them for their faith before the governor. The prefect, after they had boldly confessed Christ, commanded them to be stretched on the rack and their sides to be torn with hooks. An idol was placed near the rack with incense, that if they would offer sacrifice they should be released; but their fidelity was not to be shaken. Justa died on the rack; the judge ordered Rufina to be strangled, and their bodies to be burned. They are greatly venerated in Spain, and no doubt their names represent historical martyrs in that place. But their Acts are unreliable and one of the martyrs appears to have undergone a change of sex in the course of the ages, for Justa was originally called Justus.