A Tempered Joy

~~~Memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin~~~

~~~ Exodus 2:1-15A ~~~ Psalm 69 ~~~ Matthew 11:20-24 ~~~

Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.

It took several women to save Moses.

Moses had great plans for Moses for our salvation.

God did not send a messenger...

he did not speak to these women in a dream...

he did not use anything miraculous.

God did use the female intuition.

God had the mother of Moses realize while 

he was a baby how special he was.

Her purpose in life was to keep him safe.

Her love was so great for Moses that she was willing to place

 him in a basket alone in the river.

Today that would be consider abandonment...

the mother could be prosecuted in the courts.

God did not let Moses die alone in his little basket.

It is a wonderful story that unfolds here.

The little basket was found among the grasses by Pharaoh's daughter.

This young girl was already developing her motherly instinct.

She was moved with pity for him and said,

“It is one of the Hebrews’ children.”

Even though she recognizes who Moses belongs to,

she does not let that stop her from wanting to save his life.

Shortly they seek one of the female servants

 to nurse the found child.

I can only imagine the mother's joy when the mother 

of Moses was summoned to care for him.

Her sorrow at having left her son alone in a basket

was turned into a tempered joy.

It was a tempered joy. because as she could love and nurse

 her own child she could not let the Pharaoh's

 daughter know the truth.

Pharaoh’s daughter,

who adopted him as her son and called him Moses;

for she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

God actively protected Moses until his natural death.

There was no way that the mother and sister of Moses 

could have known how important he was to God's plan.

It was not necessary for them to know God's plan.

They might have made different choices had they been told.

It was better for them to let their female instinct to prevail.

It was the hearts of each of these women

 who brought about the protection of Moses.

Moses needed to be nurtured by his birth mother

 in the house of the Pharaoh.

As the story is written it appears to be a seamless process.

God was overseeing all that occurred then just

 as he continues to do in our lives.

It may be true that we do not need another Moses,

God knows who and what we need.

God is quietly putting his plan into action.

What part will you play?

Are you to prepare the basket, making it water proof?

Are you to lift the basket?

Are you to care for the infant child?

God's plan came to fruition as Moses grew older and wiser.

Soon he came to understand that he was chosen 

by God for something important.

We may never know until we stand before God

 just how important our role was while here on earth.

A touch, a smile, a caring word...

maybe that is vital in God's plan for you.

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

freely gave herself up for God's plan.

May she Bless us in her prayers for us.

Feeling Blessed to be a woman.

A mother's instinct can be the saving grace.

~~~ Peace ~~~