O Adonai (Lord)

O come, O come, thou Lord of Might,
Who to thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times didst give the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

Today the Church recalls that Jesus is the Lord (Adonai in Hebrew).  Referring to God as Lord/ Adonai goes back to Moses at the burning bush.  God told Moses his name, I Am who Am, and Moses, out of respect, referred to God as Adonai because of his unworthiness to call God by his actual name.

I want to return to this Holy moment of the burning bush.  In Exodus 3: 1-6 Moses is tending a flock when an Angel of the Lord appeared to him and pointed him to the burning bush where God was present.  I couldn't help but think of Luke's Gospel where an Angel of the Lord appeared to shepherds tending their flock and pointed to the star that was over where God was present.

As I continued to meditate on the story of Exodus the most fruit came from my mediation's on Exodus 6:6 where God tells Moses that he will "save the Israelite's from their slavery and by his outstretched arm."  God outstretched his arm through the Holy Spirit conceiving in the Blessed Virgin Mary and become incarnate - one of us.  God outstretched his arm by giving us himself in Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity.  Yes, God also assisted Moses and the Israelite's but this is promise God made to Moses was fulfilled in Christ Jesus, and he didn't just stop at the incarnation.  God went one more beautiful and humble step further by giving himself over and literally outstretching his arms on the cross for our salvation and redemption.  This is the all powerful Lord who sends Angels to point us in the right direction and continues to empty himself for our redemption.  Christ gave his whole self to all so that we could be forgiven and redeemed.  The cross is anything but selfish...it is 100% selfless and full of Love.  God is continually searching for us out of Love!

God also outstretches his arm at every Holy Sacrifice of the Mass when the sacrifice on Calvary is sacramentaly re-presented.  At the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Heaven and Earth meet as they did at the incarnation and the cross.  Let us pray that we remember how redemptive the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is and how the graces which flow from this redemptive, and ongoing, sacrifice change our lives.

O Adonai, and leader of the house of Israel, you appeared to Moses in the flame of the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: come, and with an outstretched arm, redeem us.  Amen.