‘I am who am’. God reveals himself to Moses in words that show his eternity, his unchanging nature, his very being. ‘I am who am’ reveals a God who is the very foundation of existence, the unmoved mover, the non-contingent being. And yet this God who seems by definition to be self contained, complete and perfect in himself, is also the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, of Moses, of the entire people of Israel and of you and I. Nothing and no one can force God to create or even more, to care so much for that creation as to reveal himself to it. God does this not because it is a duty on his part or a right on ours but rather because he loves. God shows himself to Moses in a burning bush.
The bush burns with a fire that does not consume. It is perhaps the perfect image of the love of God. Pope Benedict in his inaugural address as Bishop of Rome spoke of the love of God which takes nothing from us and gives us everything. In his funeral homily for Pope John Paul II he spoke of love burning and transforming evil into an outpouring of goodness.
The God who is timeless gives us time to change and grace to sanctify us. Lent is a time when we are asked to focus on the things that really matter, the love we have for God, the love he has for us, and the love we are asked to share with those around us. The eternal God reminds us that the only time we truly have is the present moment. Now is the time to do the will of God, now is the time to commit ourselves to him with undivided hearts.
If we wish to spend eternity with God then we must choose the path of the Lord in every moment of our lives. The God who has no need of us came into this world for us and, even more, suffered and died for us so that we might live with him for all eternity. During Lent the timeless one gives us time, this very moment in fact, and grace to become more like him, to purify and renew our souls through, prayer, fasting and almsgiving so that we might bear fruit for an eternal harvest.
(SK 2013)
