Sunday's First Reading was from Exodus 17 : 3-7
In those days, in their thirst for water, the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt? Was it just to have us die here of thirst with our children and our livestock?”
So Moses cried out to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? a little more and they will stone me!”
The LORD answered Moses, “Go over there in front of the people, along with some of the elders of Israel, holding in your hand, as you go, the staff with which you struck the river. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb. Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink.”
This Moses did, in the presence of the elders of Israel. The place was called Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarrelled there and tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD in our midst or not?”
Reflection:
This story from the Book of Exodus describes how the Jewish people, who have been wandering in the desert for years. They are tired and thirsty and have begun to lose hope that they will reach the promised land.
They start to question whether God is even with them.
God proves that he is with them in an extraordinary way.
Sometimes it’s easy to see God working in our lives, and at other times it can feel that God is absent. God may not always give us a sign or grand gesture to prove it, but he is always there, and will never leave us to walk our journey alone.