These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
At the end of four hundred and thirty years, all the hosts of the LORD left the land of Egypt on this very date. This was a night of vigil for the LORD, as he led them out of the land of Egypt; so on this same night all the children of Israel must keep a vigil for the LORD throughout their generations. (Ex 12:37-42)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071925.cfm
The Easter Triduum, culminating in the Easter Vigil, celebrates the deliverance of all humanity from the slavery to sin and death through the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus. I’ll never forget my classmate from seminary who pulled me aside one day after class asking me to explain to him the Triduum. He had never heard of it. His family attended Mass every Sunday and holy day of obligation, but he had never even heard of the Easter Vigil. Needless to say, we had a lengthy conversation with a lot of alleluias!
"This is how you are to eat it: with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand, you shall eat like those who are in flight. It is the Passover of the LORD. For on this same night I will go through Egypt. But the blood will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will pass over you. This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution." (Ex 11:10-12:14)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071825.cfm
The Passover is the ritual celebration of the liberation from slavery. Saint Paul sees the fulfillment of the Passover in the Eucharist where we proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. As Paul says: For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Cor 5:7-8).
God spoke further to Moses, "Go and assemble the elders of Israel, and tell them: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me and said: I am concerned about you and about the way you are being treated in Egypt; so I have decided to lead you up out of the misery of Egypt into a land flowing with milk and honey." (Ex 3:13-20)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071725.cfm
The Biblical story of the liberation from Egyptian slavery has been a sign of hope and God’s favor for oppressed peoples in every age. Liberation Theology is not new. God has always been on the side of the oppressed and the downtrodden. Sometimes the church has been, too. https://youtu.be/gtLcELU1brA?si=PVOsNC--SIwzLakR
But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?" He answered, "I will be with you; and this shall be your proof that it is I who have sent you: when you bring my people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this very mountain." (Ex 3:1-6, 9-12)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071625.cfm
God calls whom God wills. Even though Moses protests, God promises: I will be with you. End of discussion. The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was approved in 1226, but Mount Carmel has been a holy place since the days of the Prophet Elijah (850 BC).
When the child grew, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, who adopted him as her son and called him Moses; for she said, "I drew him out of the water." (Ex 2:1-15a)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071525.cfm
Moses gets his name from the Egyptian word for water or to draw water. Of course, Moses will draw his people to freedom. When the papal representatives arrived at the monastery to give Saint Bonaventure the cardinal’s hat (the galero), it happened to be his day to wash dishes for the community. So he made the papal representatives wait until he had finished the dishes. They got tired of waiting and left the cardinal’s hat hanging in the tree in the garden. Today’s hymn in honor of Saint Bonaventure is from an East Indian Catholic Community. https://youtu.be/hOOErecY-mY?si=L8TkCQTWFFPGqDcp
