Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Exodus 14:21-15:1; Matthew 12:46-50)
Nothing like an army gives the illusion of absolute power. To see brigade after brigade of armed men marching in file, to feel the rumble of tanks in procession as far as the eye can see, to hear the roar of jets screeching overhead – one has the sense of human invincibility. Yet as history routinely testifies, even massive armies can be defeated; sometimes as much by circumstances as by opposing legions. One example is Napoleon’s campaign against Russia where climate as much as opposing force wiped out the Grande Armée of France with well over half a million soldiers.
The first reading provides another demonstration of military might bowing to greater forces. The mighty Egyptian force composed of chariots is first stymied by mud and then devastated by the waves of the Red Sea. The author assures us that God, not Pharaoh, possesses absolute power. God alone is worthy of ultimate trust. No, God does not usually defeat hostile armies with a breath of wind. Most times, in fact, trust in God means to judiciously defend ourselves. However, we do so with respect toward His commands.
Certainly at times in our lives we feel our situation hopeless as if we were facing a million-man army. Perhaps our spouse has died leaving us with three young children. Perhaps we have been injured at work and left with a painful disability. Scripture reminds us today that we are not to give up. Indeed, we need to put ever more trust in God. He has the power to deliver us.
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