Focal Passage: Exodus 3:1-6, 10-15; 4:10-12
One of my heroes is Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, later known as Mother Teresa, founder of The Missionaries of Charity. At her death in 1997 her mission had 610 missions operating in 123 countries. What we know best of Mother Teresa was her work among the poorest in Calcutta, India. She began this work with no money and no buildings, but forged ahead by starting an open-air school for slum children. Soon she would have 13 volunteers, and at her death, there would be 4,000 agents of mercy, mostly women, continuing her work.
According to biographers, this little Albanian woman received her calling at age 12. She knew she was to be a missionary to spread the love of Christ. At 18 she joined the Sisters of Loreto, and in a few years would find herself in India. On Sept. 10, 1946, she received what she described as her “call within the call.” She had been teaching at a school in Calcutta, but the suffering and poverty she witnessed outside the convent walls compelled her to find a way to help them. When she petitioned her superiors, she was granted permission to devote her full efforts to helping “the least of these.” According to one writer, Mother Teresa’s story was one more of persistence. She began with nothing but faith and her call, which sustained her though periods of doubt, loneliness, and the temptation to return to the safe haven known as the convent.
Today’s lesson focuses on Moses and his call from the Lord as he encountered Him through the burning bush experience at the “mountain of God.” Moses’ credentials were unimpressive. He was a fugitive, and had spent what we call the “prime years” as a shepherd. Probably few people other than his immediate family viewed Moses as a leader.
Nonetheless, God called Moses. Further, this was not an insignificant calling. God had enormous plans – plans for Moses to be the leader who would deliver the Hebrews out of Egypt. Moses would accept God’s call that day: hesitant, insecure, but willing.