Collect O God, author of every mercy and of all goodness,/ who in fasting, prayer and almsgiving/ have shown us a remedy for sin,/ look graciously on this confession of our lowliness,/ that we, who are bowed down by our conscience,/ may always be lifted up by your mercy./ Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,/ who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,/ God, for ever and ever. Amen. Liturgy of the Word A reading from the Book of Exodus “I am” sent me to you. Moses was tending the flock of his fatherin-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. Leading the flock across the desert, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There an angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in fire flaming out of a bush. As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush, though on fire, was not consumed (1). So Moses decided, “I must go over to look at this remarkable sight, and see why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw him coming over to look at it more closely, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses! Moses!” He answered, “Here I am.” God said, “Come no nearer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your fathers,” he continued, “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. But the Lord said, “I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers (2), so I know well what they are suffering.Therefore I have come down to rescue them from the hands of the Egyptians and lead them out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” Moses said to God, “But when I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ if they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?” God replied, “I am who am.” Then he added, “This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I am sent me to you.” God spoke further to Moses, “Thus shall you say to the Israelites: The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. (1) As wood burns, it turns into ashes. Therefore, we say that it is consumed. This bush burns, but it does not turn into ashes. It is not consumed. (2) A slave was someone who was forced to work without pay. Slave drivers were those who ordered the slaves to work. (3) A generation is the amount of time it takes for children to grow up, become adults, and have children of their own. 5 The difficult words
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzMzNzY=